Class _L 
Book 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 




ALEXANDER 11— CZAR OF RUSSIA. 



ABDUL-HAMID II. 

SULTAN OF TURKEY. 



THE 



WAE IN THE EAST 

AS 

■J 

ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT 



RUSSIA AND TURKEY, 



WITH A 



REVIEW OF THE EASTERN QUESTION. 



By prof. a. J. SCHEM, 

Assistant Snperintendent of Public Schools, New York City; Late Professor of Ancient and 
Modem Languages in Dickinson College; Editor of a "General Cyclopedia," of the 
"Statistics of the World," of the "•American Ecclesiastical Year Book;" 
Associate Editor of the "Cyclopedia of Education," Etc., Etc. 



PUBLISHED BY V?'^^ ISr^J o^/ 

H. S. GOODSPEED & CO^ 

NEW YORK, & CINCINNATI, O. 

E. H. JONES, St. JOHN, N. B. ; J. O. ROBINSON, LONDON, ONT. ; 
B. R. STURGES, BOSTON ; J. W. GOODSPEED, CHICAGO. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by 
H. S. GOODSPEED 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



PREFACE. 



The author of this work has made the Eastern Question for 
nearly twenty, years a subject of constant and special study. As a 
member of the editorial staff of the 'New York Tribune, and 
contributor to other daily and weekly papers of New York, he has 
had many occasions to discuss it editorially in its various aspects, 
and as editor of and contributor to several cyclopaedias "and other 
Dublications, he has made himself familiar with the entire literature 
on this subject. A large amount of information had in this way 
been accumulated when the new Eastern war began. The general 
interest which the civilized world takes in this new effort to solve 
the Eastern Question, appeared to him. a suitable occasion to com- 
bine the results of his former studies with a history of the Eastern 
war, into a comprehensive work on the Eastern Question and the 
Eastern war. 

"While every part of the subject embraced within the scope of 
this work may be supposed to enlist the attention of our readers, 
the interest of all undoubtedly culminates in the history of the 
Russo-Turkish war. This great conflict in the East ranks ^^dth the 
Civil war in our own country, and the Franco-German war, among 
the most memorable wars which the present generation has wit- 
nessed or is likely to witness. A compendium of such a war, it is 
therefore believed, will be a welcome volume in the library of many 
households. This work gives due prominence to the more interest- 
ing features of the conflict. It gives an account of every battle, 
using in the description of the more important battles, graphic 

(3) 



4 PREFACE, 

accounts of eye-witnesses. Its biographical notices of distinguished 
Kussian and Turkish generals are very full, and embrace almost 
every name that is mentioned in the progress of the war — as a 
glance at the pages of the book will show. A distinguished artist, 
who has resided in both Turkey and Kussia, and who is familiar 
with the customs and manners of the different races who inhabit 
these countries, as well as with the places and fortifications in both, 
has designed many of the illustrations which embellish this book. 

The narrative of the war is preceded by a historical outline 
of the Eastern Question; a brief sketch of the past and present 
condition of both Russia and Turkey, and a history of the Bosnian 
insurrection of 1875, and the Servian war of 1876. Conjointly, 
these chapters contain information most needed for understanding 
the development of the Eastern Question prior to 1876, and enable 
the reader to conceive a clear idea of the causes, importance, and 
aim of the war. 

The peace which has been concluded between Eussia and Turkey 
can not possibly end the Eastern Question, but is more likely to be 
the beginning of a series of new questions and conflicts of which it 
is impossible to predict, or even to guess, the duration or the end. 
Even now, while this book is going to press, and while the ink with 
which the Treaty of San Stefano was signed is hardly yet dry, the 
air is full of the noise of conflicting demands and of rumors of wars, 
in which all the principal nations of Europe are in danger of being 
involved. The so-called peace has brought only dissatisfaction. 
The demand for its modification in the interests of other powers 
than Russia went up even before its terms were fully known. Even 
the former tributary States of Turkey, which, having gained their 
independence, might have been supposed to have received the 
greatest benefits from the treaty, find that they have reason to feel 
wronged, or to believe that their rights and interests have not been 
properly regarded ; the claims of one State, which deserved as high 
consideration as those of any of the others, and which enjoyed a 
wide and warm sympathy in Western and Southern Europe, have 



PREFACE. 5 

been ignored. Two powerful nations, wliich liad great interests at 
stake in the adjustment of the affairs of Turkey, find themselves, 
imder the new arrangements, dictated by Russia in the presence of 
a situation which they can not tolerate. Their claims are acknowl- 
edged to have more or less of justice by their neighboring powers, 
and even by Germany, which has been regarded as the adviser of 
Russia, and its supporter, in a moral sense. The same dispatches 
which report the diplomatic remonstrances of these powers and the 
rephes, the propositions and counter-propositions which are circu- 
lating among the Courts of Europe, bring accounts of their measures 
to support their claims by force, if they should adjudge that neces- 
sary or expedient. In the meantime Russia keeps its armies in 
front of Constantinople, and England approaches it with its war- 
vessels, either party being determined not to retire till the (]^uestions 
at dispute have been settled. 

The parties to the new controversy have great resources and 
powers of endurance, and are nearly evenly balanced. They have 
also great schemes at heart, and vital interests at stake, all of which 
are involved in the present dispute. The contest, if they should 
come to blows, will be long and desperate. It will, in its turn, 
cause new questions to be brought up, and may lead to new con- 
flicts, involving as principals parties which hold only a secondary 
place in the present discussions ; for a protracted war on the bordei's 
of Turkey can not fail to arouse the diversified nationalities ef 
Austria to an effort to realize their aspirations. 

It is therefore evident that the Russo-Turkish war of 187T-'78 
was only a single incident in a long chain of events ; trhftt the ques- 
tions which seemed most immediately involved in it, were only as 
the single threads of an entangled net of international complications 
and issues, of which the unraveling has hardly yet begim. It is 
impossible to understand adequately either the events of the war or 
the questions without having first acquired some comprehension of 
the events and complications and issues to which they are related, 
and of which they are essentially a part. The effort is made to 



6 



PREFACE. 



give such a compreliension, not onlj in the introductory historical 
chapters which lead up to the war, but further in the chapters fol- 
lowing the narrative of the war. 

In these chapters are treated the important issues connected with 
the Eastern Question, which yet await their solution ; the decline 
of the Ottoman power, and the deterioration of the Turkish race, 
which promise to produce for it further losses of territory and con- 
tinued enf eeblement ; the physical and moral condition of the 
Christian nationalities of Turkey, and their probable capacity to 
build up self-supporting States to take the place of the Turks ; the 
prospective growth of Russia, and the aims and tendencies of Pan- 
slavism ; the dangers which the co-existence of so many discordant 
races involves, not only for Turkey, but also for Austria ; the con- 
flicting interests of the two greatest Empires of the world, the 
British and the Russian, in Asia. Finally, a suggestion is attempted 
of a method in which a final solution of the Eastern and all other 
international complications may be reached in the general recogni- 
tion of the principle of self-government by nationalities. 

As the Eastern Question is by far the most important of all the 
international complications which keep the Old World in an un- 
settled condition ; and as for many years to come it can hardly fail 
to constitute a conspicuous and interesting element in the history of 
Turkey, Russia, Austria, England, and many other States of Europe, 
Asia, and Africa, a full statement of all issues involved in it will 
conserve, it is hoped, for this work some value as a reliable guide 
through the continuing difficulties of the Eastern Question, even 
when the interest in the bloody war shall have begun to subside. 

A. J. S. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGB 

PRErAOE 3 

INTRODUCTION. 

IMPORTA]N"CE OF THE EASTER:^ QUESTION AND THE EASTERi^J" WAES. 

The War of 1877-'78 one of the most important Wars of the Nineteenth Century — 
Vastness of the territory involved— Great Issues at stake — Eastern Europe on 
the eve of a Radical Transformation 21 



FIRST BOOK. 

TURKEY, RUSSIA, Al^D THE EASTERIST QUESTION 
PRIOR TO 1877. 

CHAPTER I. 

A HISTORICAL OUTLO^E OF THE EASTERN QUESTION. 

The Crusades— Conquest of Eastern Europe by the Turks— The Turks Threatening 
the Christian Nations of Europe— Emperor Maximilian's Plan of a General 
Coalition against the Turks— Decay of Turkey and Else of the Russian Empire 
—Aspirations of the Christian Races of Turkey for the Recovery of their Inde- 
pendence -History of the Russian Policy in the East— The Interest of Austria 
and England in the Eastern Question — International Treaties and Joint Action 

of the Christian Powers — The Great Crisis 27 

/ 

CHAPTER II. 

mSTOKICAL SKETCH OF RUSSIA. 

Origin of the Russians — The Republic of Novgorod — Oceupation of Russia by the 
Mongol Tartars — Rise of the Principality of Moscow — Ivan the Great, the First 
Prince who called Himself Czar— Ivan the Terrible— Michael Romanoff— Peter 
the Great — Anna — Elizabeth — Catherine the Great — Alexander I. — Nicholas I. — 

Alexander II 52 

17) 



8 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER III. 

CONDITION OF RUSSIA. 

The Eaces of Russia — Backwardness of Civilization — Abolition of Serfdom — Public 
Instruction — Russia the only State in Europe without a Representative Form 
of Government — The Policy of Russianization — Religious Intolerance— Agricul- 
tural Resources — Scarcity of Large Towns — The Village Commune — The Pro- 
\incial Assembly — The Russian Church and the Dissenters — The Army, Navy, 
and Finances of Russia 63 

CHAPTER IV. 

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF TURKEY. 

Origin of the Turks — The Seljukian Empire — Rise of the Ottoman Turks — Conquest 
of Constantinople — Growth of the Turkish Empire in Europe, Asia, and Africa 
— Turkish Policy with regard to Conquered Nations — Climax of the Ottoman 
Power under Solyman— Spell of Turkish Bravery Broken — Struggle of the Sub- 
jected Races for Independence — The Sick Man 91 



CHAPTER V. 

PRESENT CONDITION OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE AND THE OSMANLI TURKS. 

The Ruling Nationality in Turkey — Distribution of Races — What Prevents the As- 
similation of the Ottomans with the More Civilized Nations — Abortive At- 
tempts at Reform — Religious Toleration — Work of Protestant and Catholic 
Missionaries — The Educational Condition of Turkey — Agricultural and Mineral 
Resources — Tenure of Land— The Army and Navy— Desperate Condition of the 
Finances 101 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE TRIBUTARY STATES AND THE SUBJECT PEOPLES OP TURKEY. 

Rumania — Union of the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia into one State — 
Education, Literature, Army, and Finances — Characteristics of the People, 
their Dress and Manner of Living — Servia — Its History and Present Condi- 
tion — Tlie Omladina — The Servian Church — Dress, Customs, and Domestic 
Usages — Bosnia and Herzegovina — The Bulgarians — They Regain the Auton- 
omy of their National Church — Progress of Education — Circassian Colonies in 
Bulgaria — Montenegro — Sketch of its History — The Albanians — The Miridites — 
The Greeks of Turkey — The Districts in which they Predominate — Their Con- 
trol of Turkish Commerce — Greeks in Asia Minor — Crete — The Armenians — 
— Maronites— Druses— Egypt— Its Advance toward Independence— The Suez 
. Canal and other Works of Improvement — Tripoli and Tunis 127 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE INSURRECTION OF 1875, AND THE WARS OF 1876. 

Complaints of the Christian Subjects of European Turkey — The Insurrection in 
Herzegovina and Bosnia — Efforts to Suppress it — The Great Powers seek to 
Prevent its Spreading — Futile Efforts of Diplomacy — Schemes of Reform — The 
Andrassy and Berlin Notes — The Massacre of Consuls at Salonica, and the Bul- 
garian Atrocities — Views and Reports of Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Baring, and Eu- 



CONTENTS. 



9 



gene Scbu5'lcr on the Massacres in Bulgaria — Servia and Montenegro make War 
upon Turkey — Details of the Campaign — Defeat of the Serrians — An Armistice 
Granted — Conference of the Powers at Constantinople— Lord Salisbury, the 
British, and Count Chaudordy, the French, Rrepresentative at the Conference — 
The Turkish Constitution — Plan of the Conference for the Settlement of DiflS.- 
culties— It is Rejected by Tm-key — The Protocol— It is Rejected— Conclusion of 
Peace between Turkey and Servia — The Turkish Parliament 165 



SECOND BOOK. 
THE EASTERN WAR OF 1877-1878. 



CHAPTER I, 

THE RUSSIAN DECLARATION OF WAR. 

The Russian War Manifesto — Prince Gortchakoff's Circular — The Turkish Reply — 
The Army of the Pruth, its Composition and Commanders — Total Strength of 
the Russian Armies— Crossing of the Pruth— Occupation of Galatz and Braila— 
Convention between Russia and Rumania — Turkish Protest — Declaration of Ru- 
manian Independence— Strength of the Rumanian Army — The Seat of War — 
The Defenses of Turkey— The Danube and its Fortresses— The Turkish Quadri- 
lateral — The Country beyond the Balkans — Strength and Condition of the Turk- 
ish Forces— Operations on the Danube 211 



CHAPTER II. 

PASSAaE OF THE DANUBE AND THE BALKANS. 

Passage of the Danube at Galatz — Bombardment of Rustchuk — The Russians Cross 
at Sistova — Inactivity of the Turks — Proclamation of the Czar to the Bulgarians 
— Capture of Braila and of Tirnova — The Balkan Passes— Gourko Crosses the 
Balkans — Capture of the Shipka Pass — Advance of Gourko into Rumelia — The 
Russians Capture Lovatz — Storming of Nicopolis 235 



CHAPTER III. 

THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE IN ARMENIA. 

Sketch of the Field of the Armenian Campaign— Its History— First Advance of the 
Russians — Capture of Bayazid — Capture of Ardahan — Gen. Melikoff before Kars 
—Gen. Tergukassoii at Zeidekan— The Turks everywhere Retreating before the 
Russians 255 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE RUSSIAN REVERSE IN ARMENIA. 

The Situation in Armenia at the middle of June— Battle of Zeidekan — An unex- 
pected change in the Fortunes of War— Defeat of General Tergukassofl at Deli- 
baba and of General Melikoff at Zewin— Retreat of the Russians— General Ter- 
gukassoff reaches Igdir, and marches to the relief of the Russian garrison at 
Bayazid— Horrible condition of that place— The Siege of Kars abandoned— The 
Russians again in Russian Territor}- 273 



lO 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE BATTLES AROUND PLEVNA. 

Change in the Fortunes of the Russians — Removal of Abdul Kerim — Appointment 
of Mehemet Ali to the Supreme Command — Plevna, its Situation — Arrival of 
Osman Pasha — Battle of July 19th — Defeat of the Russians — Osman Captures 
Lovatz — Battle of Karabunar — Retreat of General Gourko — Battle of Eski Sagra 
— Second Defeat of the Russians at Plevna, July 3lst — Retreat of the Russians 
from the Lorn — Operations in the Dobrudja — Bombardment of Kustendje — 
Struggles in the Shipka Pass — Battle of Karasan — Repulse of a Turkish Attack 
on Pelisat — Skobeleff Recaptures Lovatz — Battle of Kechlova — Third Defeat of 
the Russians before Plevna — Capture of the Grivitza Redoubt — Bravery of the 
Rumanian Troopa 285 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE FALL OF PLEYNA. 

Renewed fighting in the Shipka Pass — Defeat of Mehemet Ali at Tcherkovna — Me- 
hemet Ali replaced by Suleiman in the Supreme Command — Formation of the 
Army of Orkhanie — Reinforcements and Ammunition for Plevna — Battle of 
Gorni Dabnik — Capture of Telis — Battle of Radomirze — The investment of 
Plevna complete — Capture of the Green Hill — Formation of the Army of 
Sophia — Capture of Teteven and Vratza — The Rumanians take Rahova — Cap- 
ture of Pravetz and Etropol — Turks evacuate Orkhanie and retreat beyond 
the Balkans — Suleiman's advance on the Lom — Capture of Elena by the Turks 
—End of the Turkish Advance— The fall of Plevna 315 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE SECOND CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. 

A Summer's rest in Asia — Position of the Armies — The Russians again approach 
Kars — Battles of Kisil Tepe, Yagni, and Aladja Dagh — Retreat of Mukhtar 
Pasha — Advance of Gen. Tergukassofl on the Southern line — Battle of Deve 
Boyun, before Erzerum — Capture of Kai'S 339 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE OPERATIONS BEFORE BATUM AND IN THE CAUCASUS. 

Batum — Its Importance as a Port — The Russians Undertake its Investment — The 
Turkish Expedition to Sukhum Kaleh, and their Effort to Excite an Insurrec- 
tion of the Caucasian Tribes— Insignificant Results of the Movement 360 

CHAPTER IX. 

ON TO CONSTANTINOPLE. 

The Close of the Campaign on the Lom— Servia enters upon the Scene of War- 
Capture of Ak Palanka and Pirot by the Servians — Gourko Crosses the Etro- 
pol Balkan — Battles of Taskesen and Kamarli — Capture of Sophia, the Trojan 
Pass, the Shipka Pass, and Philippopolis — Suleiman Pasha Defeated and 
Forced into the Rhodope Mountains— Capture of Adrianople— Suleiman's 
March to the Sea — The Russians Occupy Tcholuk and Tchataldju, and Push 
their Lines along the North Shore of the Sea of Marmora — Final Operations 



CONTENTS. II 

of the Servians— Surrender of Widin— The Czarevitch Occupies Kaegrad, Os- 
nian Bazar, and Kustchuli— Gen. Zimmermann Assumes the Offensive— Cap- 
ture of Bazardjili 369 



CHAPTER X. 

MONTENEGKO AND THE GREEK PROVINCES. 

Negotiations between Turkey and Montenegro broken off- The Turkish Armies 
Operating against Montenegro— The Montenegrin Forces— Operations in the 
South— Ali Saib Repulsed— Suleiman Captures Kristatch, the Duga Pass, and 
Relieves Nicsic— Incapacity of the Montenegrin Leaders— Suleiman Captures 
Ostrok, and marches through Montenegro to join Ali Saib m the South- 
Suleiman and his Army sent to Rumelia— Prince Nicholas takes Nicsic and 
other Points in the Herzegovina— Cessation of Hostilities— The Montenegrins 
Capture Spizza and Antivari— Operations against Scutari interrupted by the 
Armistice— Operations in the Greek Provinces and in Crete— Short participa- 
tion of Greece in the War 379 

CHAPTER XI. 

NAVAL OPERATIONS. 

Russian Fleet on the Black Sea — Russian Fortifications on the Black Sea— Expe- 
dition of the " Constantine"— Destruction of Turkish vessels — Expedition to 
the Mouths of the Danube — Capture of a Turkish . Mail Steamer with a valua- 
ble Cargo— Torpedoes— Their use in the present War . 386 

CHAPTER XII. 

DIPLOMATIC HISTORY OF THE WAR. 

How the Declaration of War was received in Europe — England and Austria — Cor- 
respondence between the British and Russian Governments — Mr. Gladstone's 
Resolutions — The British Fleet in Besika Bay— The Vote of Credit in the 
British Parliament— Agitations in Austria- Hungary — The War Feeling in 
Servia — Prince Milan's Visit to the Czar — The Excitement in Greece — The 
Mouths of the Danube— The Salonica Murderers 393 

CHAPTER XIII. 

INNER HISTORY OF TURKEY DURING THE WAR. 

The Feeling at Constantinople at the Beginning of the War — Discontent over the 
Management of Affairs by the Government — The Holy War and the Flau" of the 
Prophet- The Turkish Parliament— Ministerial Changes— The Sultan still talk- 
ing of Reforms — Rise and Growth of the Party of Peace — The Second Session 
of Parliament — The Government Censured — Boldness and Independence of the 
Deputies — The Sultan Dissolves the Chamber with Signs of Displeasure — Fur- 
ther Ministerial Changes — How the Porte Supported, the War 413^ 

CHAPTER XIV. 

ARMISTICE AND PEACE. 

Early Measures Relating to Peace — What Russia would have Demanded in June, 
1877 — German Prognostications — Growth of the Peace Party in Turkey — The 
Porte issues a Circular Appeal to the Powers for Mediation — The Powers De-- 



12 



CONTENTS. 



cline to Interfere, Lut England brings about a direct Negotiation between the 
Belligerents— Turkish Commissioners appointed, with full powers to Treat — 
The Armistice and the Conditions of Peace— The Treaty Signed and Ratified— 
Its Conditions. 421 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE ATROCITIES OF THE WAR. 

The Expectation that Outrages would be Committed— It was not Disappointed — 
The Kurds in Southern Armenia — American Missionaries in Danger — The Mas- 
sacre at Bayazid — No one Punished for it— Charges of Outrages by Russians in 
Armenia — They are not Confirmed — Statements of English Witnesses on the 
Conduct of the Russians — Gen. Melikoff's Statement — Proclamation by Mukh- 
tar Pasha Enforcing Principles of Humanity — Russian Severities in Abkhasia — 
The Rivalry of Massacres in Bulgaria— Attacks on Neutral Property and Hos- 
pitals at Widin and Rustchuli— The Manufacture of Atrocities— Official State- 
ments by the Turks against Russians and Bulgarians — The Mob at Nicopolis 
— The Bulgarians at Offandlik— Destruction at Sistova — Wounded Women 
and Children at Rasgrad and Shumla — Bulgarian Excesses at Eski Sagra — 
The Turks Recapture the Town and Obliterate it— The Russians Exculpated 
from the Charge of Committing Outrages upon Non-combatants— What the 
Turks Ascribed to the Russians — Testimony of Mr. Archibald Forbes — Report 
of Lieut.-Col. Wellesley — How the Bulgarians Regai-ded the Case — A few 
Bright Spots in the Picture — Turkish Atrocities far in Excess of Anything 
which the Bulgarians did — Destruction of Yeni Sagra — Trial and Punishment 
of the Bulgarians— Wholesale Executions — Remonstrances of Foreign Gov- 
ernments — Cruelty of Turkish Soldiers toward Armed Foes — The GeshofEs — 
Destitution in the Ravaged Districts — Movements for Relief — Conduct of the 
Montenegrins 439 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE PHILANTHROPY OF THE WAR. 

Progress of Humane Principles — The Geneva Convention — The Russian Soldiers' Aid 
Societies — The Empress and Ladies of Rank — The Turkish Aid Societies — The 
British Aid Societies — Queen Victoria — Lady Straugford — Baroness Burdett- 
Coutts — American Societies — Union of Nations for the Relief of Distress 468 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 

Interest in the Personalities of the War — Sovereigns : The Czar and the Imperial 
Family of Russia — Sultans : Abdul Hamid, Abdul Aziz, and Murad V. — 
Ismail Pasha, Prince Charles L, Prince Milan IV., Prince Nicholas, the Em- 
perors William and Francis Joseph, Queen Victoria, President MacMahon, 
King Humbert — Statesmen : Prince GortchakofE, Gen. Ignatieff, Count Shu- 
valojff. Prince Bismarck, Count Andrassy, Earl Beaconsfield, Earl Derby, Mr. 
Layard, Lord Loftus, Sir H. Elliot — Midhat, Edhem, Savfet, Aarifi, Server, Hus- 
sein Avni, Redif, Mahmoud Damad and Ahmed Vefik, Pashas — Ghannes 
Tchamith — Russian Generals : Nepokoitchitzky, Todleben, Radetzky, Zimmer- 
mann, Baron Kriidener, Gourko, Skobeleff, Shilder-Shuldner, Prince. Sha- 
chovsky, Dragomiroff, Prince Imeretinski, Tchernayeff, Loris Melikoff, Ter- 
gukassoff, Dewell, Heimann, Oklobjio — Turkish Generals : Abdul Kerim, Me- 
hemet Ali, Suleiman, Osman, Hobart, Mukhtar, Ghazi Mehemed, Feizi, Yaver, 
Shevket, Rauf, Fuad, Dervish, Pashas : 485 



CONTENTS. 



13 



THIED BOOK. 

THE EASTER!^ QUESTIOJST AT THE CLOSE OF THE 
WAR— AN OUTLOOK INTO THE FUTURE. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE DOOM OF TURKEY 

The Turkish Power in Europe destroyed by the War — The Turks can not retain 
their hold upon the Autonomous Provinces — Discontent sure to spread to the 
other Provinces — How Bulg-aria separates the Capital from the Provinces — 
Probable Destiny of Bosnia and the Greek Provinces — What will become of the 
Turks — Principles of Decay essential in the Turkish System — The Koran a 
Barrier to all Progress — The Mohammedan System in Conflict with Popular 
Government — The Turk can not be Europeanized — Fatalism— Low Condition 
of Education in Turke}' — Amusing Illustrations — The Turkish Language an 
Obstacle to Scientific Instruction— Christian Schools — They tend to build up 
the Christian Nationalities at the Expense of the Turkish System— Debasing 
Effect of Polygamy— The Conscription depleting the Country of its Moslem 
Youth — Sanitary Deficiencies — Decline of Turkish Population — Growing Im- 
portance and Influence of the Christians — Decadence of the Turkish Oflacial 
Aristocracy — Condition of Asia Minor — Account by a French Traveler — Picture 
by an American Missionary — Testimony of other Authors to the Ruin of the 
Country— The African Dependencies of Turkey — Egypt, Tunis, Tripoli — Frailty 
of the Tenure by which they are held— The Bedouins — The Ultimate Fate of 
Turkey 545 

CHAPTER II. 

THE WETW STATES OF THE BALKAIf PENINSULA. 

I. BULaARIANS AND GREEKS. 
The Nationalities that are to Rule Turkey — The Bulgarians, Greeks, Rumanians, 
Servians — Latent Traits of the Bulgarians — The Ancient Bulgarians — Relations 
of Bulgaria and the East-Roman Empire — The Bogomils — The Second Bulgarian 
Kingdom ; its Culmination and its Speedy Fall— Four Centuries and a half of 
Oppression and Darkness — The most Wretched People in Europe at the Begin- 
ning of this Century — The Marvelous Awakening and Speedy Advance — The 
First Printed Bulgarian Book — Beginning of a Movement for Education — The 
First Popular Schools — What has been Accomplished in I'ifty Years — News- 
papers — Books — School-books and Literary Works — The Ecclesiastical Strug- 
gle and the Victory of the Bulgarians — The Capacity of the People Proved — 
Opinions of Intelligent Travelers — Kanitz and Yon Hellwald — They are Des- 
tined to Become a Leading Nation of the Earth — The Claims of the Greeks — 
T»heir Noble Ancestr}- — What the World Owes to Greek Learning — The Greeks 
the Ancient Settlers of Turkey— The Modern Greeks not Hellenlzed Slavs— The 
West Responsible for the Conquest of the Greeks— Tenacity of the Grecian 
Character — Greece During and Since the Revolution — Reasonableness of the De- 
mands of Greece for Territorial Expansion — Attitude of Greece in 1876-'77 — 
Advance into Thessaly in February, 1878 — A Mistake — The Adjustment of 
Grecian Interests more Practicable than in case of any other Nationality of Tur- 
key — Attitude of the Greeks toward the Slavs — Foreign Views on the Expan- 
sion of Greece— Earl Derby's Expression 572 



14 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER III. 

THE NEW STATES OF THE BALKAiST PEIiflXSULA. 

H. RUMAjSriAJfS AlfD SERVIAXS. 
The Dacia of the Eomans — Character of the Ancient Dacians — The Eoiiian Conquest 
and Colonization — "Withdrawal of the Romans — Successive Tribes of Northern 
Barbarians Occupy the Country — The Bulgarians and the East-Roman Empire 
— The Kingdoms of Wallachia and Moldavia — They become Tributary, and 
finally Subject to Turkey — They become semi-independent and are afterward 
united as Rumania — The Rumanians and the Romans — The Wallachian, or 
Rumanian Language — The Culture of the Language — Wallachia in 1835 — 
Count Von Moltke's Impressions — Marks of Improvement and Progress — 
Agriculture and Manufactures — Jealousy of Foreigners — The Nationalities in 
Rumania — Distribution of the Rumanians in Surrounding Countries — The 
Mistakes which the Rumanians have committed — The Better Qualities of 
the People — The Hopeful Prospects of the Country — The Servian Nationality 
— Its Numbers and Distribution — Education in Seiwia and Montenegro — Unity 
of Language — The Communal Organization of Servian Society— The National 
Movement and the Omladina — Capacity of the Servians to form a nation 59i 

CHAPTER IV. 

PATTSLAVIC HOPES AIND TEJSTDEXCIES. 

The Result of the War encouraging the Panslavists — Original Object of the Slavo- 
phile Party of Russia — Opposition to the Reforms introduced by Peter the Great 
— They sought to Expel European Civilization and introduce a new Civilization 
of Russian, or Orthodox Slavic Development — Personal Histoiy of the Found- 
ers and Builders of the Party — The Aksakoffs, father and sons — Their Social 
Circle at Moscow— Literary Efforts of the Elder Aksakoflf in behalf of the Cause 
— StephanoAitch Chomiakofi, the real Founder of the Party— His Travels and 
the Views he acquired— The Kireyevskis — Influence of these three over the 
Aksakoffs — Constantine Aksakofi's Eccentric Protests against French Fashions 
— He revives Obsolete Customs — The Group propose the Russian jMir, or Vil- 
lage Commune, as the Basis of the new Organization of Societj^ — Ivan Aksa- 
kofi" and his Journal — Katkoff and the Party of Young Russia — Panslavic 
Movements in Austria— The Slavic Committees of Russia— Their work in the 
Herzegovinian Insurrection— A Pro-Servian Excitement stirred Up— The Gov- 
ernment drawn into the Movement — The Czar commits Himself at Moscow — 
Silence imposed during the Constantinople Conference — Actirity resumed — 
Prince Tcherkassky — Aksakolf declares the Union in accord with the Czar — 
Slavic Meeting at Warsaw GOO 

CHAPTER V. 

THE PERIL OF AUSTRIA. 

The immediate Concern of Austria in the Integrity of Turkey — Austro-Hungarian 
Interests alone Regarded — The Heterogeneous and Discordant Populations of 
the Empire-Kingdom — Decline of Austrian Predominance in Germany — The 
Compromise with Hun garj'— Troubles arising out of the Diversities of National 
and Race Interests — The Czechs and the Poles — Discontent of the non-Ma,gyar 
Nationalities of Hungary — Centrifugal Tendencies in the Empire and Kingdom 
—Hostile Designs of the Panslavists— The Magyars Friends of Turkey and Ene- 
mies of Russia— Any Change in the Eastern Situation Dangerous to Austria — 



CONTENTS. 15 

Hungary— Views of Hungarian Statesmen— Gen. Klapka— Louis Kossutli— Jeal- 
ousy of the Visit of Signer Crispi, and his Proposition for a Confederation of 
Slavic States and the Enlargement of Greece— Pro-Kussian Influences at the 
Court of Vienna 628 



CHAPTER VI. 

ENGLAND AND RUSSIA. 
"Fear of Russia entertained by the Powers— Early advances of Russia toward Con- 
stantinople — Frederick the Great on the Threatening Power of Russia — Will of 
Peter the Great — British Interests in the East — Russia and England Rivals in 
Asia— Russian Conquest Dangerous to the British Tenure of India— Kashgar 
and Russia — Afghanistan, its Importance to British Interests — Russian Influence 
in Persia— The Blundering Diplomacy of the English Government Condemned — 
Position of the English Parties on the Question — Counter-arguments of the anti- 
Russians and the anti-Turks — Views of the British Cabinet and Conservative 
Statesmen— The Positions assumed by the Liberal Statesmen— Moderated tone 
of the English Journals — Why England and Russia should not Quarrel — They 
are the Destined Rulers of Asia—What Benefits they have Conferred upon it— 
What they may yet Accomplish for its Civilization and Prosperity 640 

CHAPTER YII. 

THE NATIONALITY PRINCIPLE AND THE FINAL ISSUE OF THE EASTERN 

QUESTION. 

The End of the War brings New Complications — New Conflicting Interests — How 
shall they be Settled ? — The Influences which Control the Adjustment of 
State Lines — Dynastic Considerations — The Principle of Nationalities — Its His- 
tory — Italian and German Unity — The Nationality Principle in Austria — Its 
Application to European Turkey — Indications that it will gain Strength — It 
afibrds the Best Guide to a Final Adjustment 663 

CHAPTER VIII. 

COMPLICATIONS ARISING AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 
Leaning of the Turks toward the Russians — Austrian Note to Russia on the Treaty 
of Peace — British Objections to the Treaty — The British Fleet passes into the 
Sea of Marmora — Austria Issues an Invitation for an International Conference 
— Prince Bismarck's Declaration in the German Parliament — Russia's Opposi- 
tion to the Conference — England Demands the Submission of the entire Treaty- 
Threatened Rupture between Russia and England — Ignatieff Visits Vienna — 
British Circular to the Powers — The British Reserves Called Out— Intimate Re- 



lations of the Russians and Turks 6'^3 



APPENDIX I. 

THE WILL OF PETER THE GREAT 682 

APPENDIX II. 

THE TREATY OF SAN STEFANO \ 686 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIOXS. 



PAGE. 



Alexander II., Czar of Ettssia — 1 
Abdul Hajmid II., Sultan oi' Tur- 
key 2 

A Coffee House IN Constantinople 21 

A Gate in Constantinople 23 

KiLiD Bahr on the European Shore 31 

TCHANAK KaLESI ON THE ASIATIC 

Shore 32 

!MiDHAT Pasha 41 

Prince Gortchakoff 42 

The Monument erected at Nov- 
gorod 53 

Types of Russian Soldiers 54 

Russian Peasants 62 - 

Odessa 71- 

A Cossack 72 

Cossack Soldiers 81 

Russian Soldiers 82 

The Circassian Chieftain Shamyl. 89 

Redif Pasha 89, 

Circassians . '. 90 

A Wallachian 99 

A Group of Turks 100 

Types of Asia Minor and Arme- 
nia 112^ 

Bashi-Bazouks 121 

Kurds 122 

Charles I. , Prince OF Rumania 131 

Milan, Prince of Servia 132 

Bulgarians 141 

Nicholas I., Prince of Montenegro 142 

Montenegrins ♦ 151 

Greeks 152 

SvETOZAR Miletitch 167 

LuKA Petk(witch 167 

Servian S-OLDiERS 168 

Advance Sentinels 173' 

Mr. Eugene Schuyler 179 

Me. Walter Baring ISO 



PAGE. 

Abdul Aziz, Late Sultan of Tur- 



key 187 

Abdul Aziz on his way to Prison. . 188 

General Tchernayeff 195 

General Alempitch 195 

Turkish Spies brought into the 

Servian Camp 196 

The Marquis of Salisbury 203 

Edhem Pasha 204' 

The Grand Duke Nicholas 219 

Evening Prayer at Ejshine v 220 

Circassian Cavalry passing 

through a Turki>h Tovrs 235 

A Reconnoissance in the Dobrudja 239 

Bridge at Sistova 240 

Gen-eral Gourko 249 

The Road to the Shipka Pass 250 

The Emperor Alexander II. in the 
Nevski Prospekt, St. Peters- 
burg 255 

The Grant) Duke Michael 259 

Citadel at Tiflis 200 

The Defile of Dariel 260 

Bayazid 269 

The Battle of Tahir 270 

City ANTD Fort OF Kars 279 

Abdul Kerim 289 

General Skobeleff 290 

SuLEEviAN Pasha's Attack on the 
Russian Position in the Shipka 

Pass 299 

PRr^^cE Hassan 300 

Leeut.-Gen. Radetsky 300 

RussiAN^ Infantry going into Ac- 
tion 309 

Storming of the Grivitza Redoubt 

BY THE Rumanians 310 

The Bulgarian Legion Defending 

A Lunette in the Shipka Pass . . 319 
(17) 



LIST OF ILL 



USTRATIONS. 



PAGE. 



A Cavalry Fight kear Pleti^ a 320 

OsMAN Pasha 329 

The Battle of Pleyi^a 330 

The Meeti^tg between Osman 
Pasha, the Grakd Duke Nicho- 
las, and Prince Charles. . 337 

OsMAN Pasha brought before the 

Czar at Plevna 338 

The Defeat of the Turks before 

Kars 347 

ACHMED MUKHTAR PaSHA 348 

General Melikoff 348 

The Russians StorjSiing Kaks 357 

The Last Shot in the Defense of 

Kars 358 

Dervish Pasha 367 

Mahimoud Damad Pasha 367 

HoBART Pasha 368 

Hassan Pasha 368 

A Turkish Battery overtaken by 

A Storii in the Balkans 377 

A Cavalry Fight during Sulei- 
man's Retreat 378 

Russian Torpedo-boats Engaging 

THE Batteries near Silistria. . . 389 

A Russian Battery 390 

Queen Victoria 399 

Gladstone 400 



PAGE, 

The Hanging of Christians by the 
Turks in the Streets of Philip- 



popoLis 437 

Heads of Russian Soldiers 438 

IklADAME CaMARA AND A WOUNDED 

Child 457 

Wounded Turks Returning from 

THE Battle of Kasanlik 458 

Loading an Ambulance 469 

Death of Aziz Pasha 470 

A Turkish Surgeon antd Field 

Equipage 470 

MuRAD V 483 

Alexander, Heir- Apparent to the 

Russian Throne 484 

Wllhelm, Emperor of Germany . . . 497 

The Emperor of Austria 498 

Bismarck .. 509 

Disraeli 510 

Savfet Pasha 517 

A Turkish Soldier Praying by the 

Grave of a Dead Comrade 518 

General Todleben 535 

Slxeiman Pasha 536 

Up a Tree 574 

Marsh.\l MacMahon, President of 

France 009 



LIST OF MAPS AN"D PLANS. 



31ap showing the Growth op the Russian Empire 61 

Map showing the Distribution of the Prlncipal Races aitd Religions of 

Turkey Ill 

Map showing the Operations in Servia, Bosnia, HjERZEGoviNA, and Monte- 
negro 172 

Map showing the Lviportant Passes of the Balkans 229 

Plan of Widin with Kalafat 330 

Plan of the Fortifications around Plevna 230 

Map showing the Campaign on the Danube and in the Balkans 234 

Map showing the C-oipaigns in Asia 254 

Map of Kars and Environs . . , 280 

Map showing the New States of the Balkan Peninsula ' ^ 573 

Map showing the Operations from the Balkans to Constantinople 608 



A COFFEE-HOUSE IN CONSTANTINOPLE. 



INTRODUCTION. 



IMPORT ANCE OF THE EASTERN QUESTION AND THE EASTERN WARS. 

The War of 1877-'78 one of the most important "Wars of the Nineteenth Century — Vast- 
ness of the territory involved — Great Issues at stake — Eastern Europe on the eve of 
a Radical Transformation. 

A WAR between two countries so extensive and so powerful as 
Kussia and Turkey will never fail to enlist the profound interest of 
the civilized world, and to fill a conspicuous place in the history of 
the century. Russia and Turkey are among the largest empires of 
the earth. In point of extent, Russia is the second, and Turkey the 
sixth; in point of population, Russia the third and Turkey the 
fourth among all the States. Their aggregate population exceeds one 
hundred and twenty millions, or nearly one-tenth of the human 
race ; their united area fully occupies one-fifth of the entire surface 
of the land. Thus in every Russo-Turkish conflict the world again 
witnesses the horrors of war on a larger scale, and these horrors 
must be expected to be all the more frightful, as the Turks and 
even large portions of the Russian troops have not yet experienced 
that influence of the Christian religion and of the civilization of the 
nineteenth century which fortunately distinguishes to some extent 
the wars in Western Europe and in I^orth America from those of 
former times and of other couatries. 

The Eastern war of 18YY-'Y8 has enlisted an even more general 
and more profound interest than its predecessors. For two years its 
outbreak had been anxiously looked forward to, because it was 
thought that it might lead to results of more than ordinary impor- 
tance, and might take its place among the more memorable wars in 
the histoiy of the human race. The power of the Turks has long 
been on the wane, and the opinion has been widely spread that they 
would not be able to retain much longer their hold of their Chris- 
tian provinces. The rising in 1875 and 18Y6 of all the tribes of 

(21) 



22 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



the Servian nationalitj appeared to be fraught with the most serious 
danger to the Turks, and awakened the full measure of that sympa- 
thy which is accorded to the struggle of any oppressed people for 
independence. When Russia, in 1877, took np arms in support of 
its Slavic brethren, it v/as commonly expected that the time for a 
radical change in the territorial division of Eastern Em*ope was 
near at hand. A decided defeat of the Turks, it was thouo^ht, mio-ht 
involve their entire expulsion from Europe, and a reconstrnction 
of their European dominions. In any permanent change of this 
kind, however, other gi-eat powers are directly concerned. Austria 
can not be indifferent to the final fate of the Slavic tribes of Turkey ; 
England can not but be anxious about the final fate of Constantinople 
and the Suez Canal; both Austria and England have very good 
reason to watch with suspicion any further aggrandizement of 
Eussia ; and no one believes that any lasting change in the map of 
Europe can be effected without the consent of the powerful German 
Empire, and its great statesman, Prince Bismarck. The movements 
of English, Austrian, and German diplomacy have therefore been 
watched by public opinion with almost as great eagerness as the 
progress of the war, and the changing prospects of a still fmther 
extension of the seat of war have largely added to the general interest 
which has been taken in it. 

A peculiar interest attaches to this war in its religious aspect. 
The civilized world has fortunately learned to discard religion from 
politics, and the legislation of the United States, which grants equal 
rights and equal protection to persons of all religions, is duly appre- 
ciated and more and more adopted by the States of Europe a^d 
America. The Turks might have received the full benefit of this 
progress of religious toleration, and the fact that the Mohammedan 
religion forms a broad hne of distinction between them and the 
civilized world might have been ignored, if the Government had 
been just toward its Christian subjects. This, however, has not 
been the case. The shameful oppression of the Christian provinces, 
after having lasted for centuries, has not yet ceased. Mohammedan 
fanaticism has again reflected itself in the horrible Bulgarian 
atrocities, and the war against Eussia had hardly begun when the 
Turkish Government manifested the design of proclaiming a holy 
war of all Mohammedans against the Christian enemy. Such acts 
could not but arouse a strong feeling of aiitipathy against the 
Mohammedan Turks throughout the Christian world. They re- 



THE EASTERN QUESTION AND WARS, 



23 



called to the Christian nations the past wars between the Cross and 
the Crescent, and their final resnlt, the complete victory of progress- 
ive Christianitj, which is now the religion of almost every civilized 
country, over the decrepit Islam, which for centuries has been losing 
ground wherever it came into contact with Christians. The exam- 
ples of Spain, of Hungary, of large Slavic territories, and of Greece, 
all of which have fully emancipated themselves from Mohammedan 
rule, and of Servia and Eumania, which have at least achieved an 
actual independence, were looked upon as proofs that a Mohamme- 
dan government can not and should not conduct the developing 
civilization of a Christian race, and that the Christian tribes which 
are still kept down by Turkish rule, are fairly and fully entitled to 
a liberation from the shackles which thus far have obstructed their 
progress. The warlike spirit which animated the Crusader against 
the infidel conquerors of the Holy Land may no longer exist in the 
present generation, but just in proportion as the Turks choose to 
remind the Christians of their triumphs in former religious wars, 
they will revive in millions of minds the sorrow for the Mohamme- 
dan conquest of the sacred places hallowed by the history of the 
Old and l^ew Testaments, and will swell the already powerful 
current of an anti-Turkish public sentiment. Even those who 
dread a further advance of Russia, more than the continuance of 
Turkish rule, have demanded and will demand satisfactory guaran- 
tees for the freedom of the Christian provinces from any further 
oppression by a Mohammedan government. 

The fact that the Turks not only belong to an alien religion, but 
that they are an alien race in Europe, has greatly added to the 
hereditary hatred with which the conquered tribes and the neigh- 
boring nations have looked upon them. Bat this difference of race 
has received a much greater significance in the light of modem 
science. The progress of comparative philology which has shown 
the degree of kinship existing between all the principal languages 
of the world, has revealed the remarkable fact that from the days 
of the Persian Empire one family of nations, speaking languages 
nearly akin to each other, have run far ahead of all other nations in 
power and civilization. The Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, in 
the past, and all the Teutonic, Romanic, and Slavic nations of the 
present, are members of this family, which has been variously 
designated by linguists as the Aryan, Indo-Germanic or Indo-Euro- 
pean. In its irrepressible progress, this family of nations has now 



24 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



obtained coritrol of tlic government of nearly all Europe, America, 
Australia, and the larger portion of Asia, and it is still steadily 
advancing. The Turks do not belong to it, but to an entirely dif- 
ferent race, which in the progress of civilization has thus far greatly 
lagged behind, and, on account of its obvious inferiority, has been 
steadily losing ground for centuries. The inference has been drawn 
from this historical argument that the Turks have not only been 
unsuccessful in the . past, but that as an inferior race they will also 
be constitutionally unfit in future to raise the countries over which 
Ihey rule to a level with the Aryan nations of Europe and America. 
The Eastern wars from 1875 to 1878, and the inner history of 
Turkey during this time, have therefore been scrutinized with close 
attention by thousands of eager obseiwers, to whom they appear as 
a new test of a theoiy which, if true, is certainly of a very grave 
importance for the welfare of millions of men, and which undoubt- 
edly may clahn, in the face of the history of the last two thousand 
years, a very thorough investigation. 



FIRST BOOK. 



TURKEY, RUSSIA, AND THE EASTERN 
QUESTION PRIOR TO 1877. 



FIRST BOOK. 



TUEKEY, EUSSIA, AND THE EASTEEN QUES- 
TION PEIOE TO 1877. 



CHAPTEE I. 

A HISTOEICAL OUTLINE OF THE EASTERN QUESTION". 

The CiTisades— Conquest of Eastern Europe by the Turks— The Turks Threatening the 
Christian Nations of Europe — Emperor Maximilian's Plan of a General Coalition 
against the Turks — Decay of Turkey and Rise of the Russian Empire — Aspirations 
of the Christian Races of Turkey for the Recovery of their Independence — History 
of the Russian Policy in the East — The Interest of Austria and England in the East- 
em Question — International Treaties and Joint Action of the Christian Powers — The 
Great Crisis. 

The Eastern Question, or the question as to the destiny of South- 
eastern Europe, has for many centuries been a prolific source of 
great excitement and of bloody war. It has presented itself to the 
people of Europe and of the civilized world, under greatly varying 
aspects, but it has rarely lost its interesting character, and recently 
it has become once more the most exciting featm-e in the inter- 
national complications of the world. 

The fate of the East became a subject of anxious concern for all 
Christian nations of Europe, when the followers of Mohammed began 
to conquer in Asia the places hallowed by the life and death of 
Christ. The conquest of the Holy Land from the Infidels was tmly 
for the Christian people of Europe an Eastern Question, though it 
was not called by that name, and no Eastern war has ever awakened 
a greater enthusiasm, or finds even at the present day a larger num- 
ber of attentive readers than the crusades. These religious wars 
have turned out to be a great promoter of civilization, and have 
largely contributed to -the ascendency which the Christian nations of 



28 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Europe and America now enjoj over all others ; but in a military 
point of view they resulted in a complete failure. Kot only were 
no lasting conquests made by the Christians, and not only were the 
Eastern States established by them very short-lived, but the final 
withdrawal of the Christians from Asia was followed by the inva- 
sion of Eastern Europe by the Mohammedans, by the decay of the 
East-Roman Empire, and finally, in 1453, by the fall of Constanti- 
nople. 

Then the Eastern Question assumed for the nations of Europe a 
new shape. The conquest of Constantinople had only increased the 
greed of the Mohammedans for more land, and Austria, Hungary, 
Poland, and Eussia had long to suffer from the impetuous invasions 
of the Turks. The Turkish wars of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and sev- 
enteenth centuries, though not so famous as the crusades of the mid- 
dle ages, and the great Eastern wars of more recent times, still live in 
the recollections of the nations which suffered from them, and the 
people still sing many popular songs celebrating the great heroes 
who saved large portions of Europe from falling under Turkish rule. 
The Eastern Question for the monarchs of that age consisted in de- 
vising plans of defense from the horrors attending and following 
Turkish invasions. Sometimes bold plans were formed for not only 
repelling the Turks, but for expelling them altogether from Europe. 
Such a plan, among others, was devised by the Emperor Maximilian 
L, the last imperial representative of medieval chivalry. It pro- 
vided for a joint war, not only of the Christian nations of Europe, 
but of Persians and Tartars, which was to last for three years. It 
was to begin in 1518 simultaneously in Africa and. in Hungary. In 
Africa, the Emperor of Germany and the king of Portugal, aided 
by the French fieet, were to liberate the princes of tlie ITorthem 
States from Turkish rule and to enhst them in the common alliance. 
In Hungary, the king of Poland, at the head of his own troops, and 
of Hungarian, Bohemian, Moravian, Silesian, Austrian, Bavarian, and 
other auxiliaries, was to conquer the border provinces of European 
Turkey. In 1519, the kings of Poland and France were to unite 
their forces in Bosnia, conquer Adrianople and Philippopolis, and 
plunder Greece, in order to raise the money for paying the Walla- 
chian and Tartar auxiliaries- In Africa, the kings of England and 
Denmark, and the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, supported 
by a Muscovite army, were to fight a decisive battle near Algiers, 
and conquer the Nile. In the third year of the war, the victorious 



OUTLINE OF THE EASTERN QUESTION. 



29 



army of Africa was to join tlie kings of France and Poland, and to 
put an end to the Tnrkish Empire by the conquest of Constantinople. 
A new census was to be taken in all the countries of Christendom, 
in order to distribute among them, pro rata of the population, a new 
Turkish tax, which was to meet the expenses of the war. After the 
destruction of the Turkish Empire, the king of Persia was to be re- 
warded for his help by one-half of Asia Minor, Caramania, and Ar- 
menia, while the other half of Asia Minor, Egypt, and Syria were 
to be given to the Austrian nation. It is not known how the Em- 
peror intended to divide the European dominions of the Sultan ; 
probably the want of agreement about the Turkish inheritance was 
as great in the sixteenth as in the nineteenth century. At all events 
the plan was not carried out at all, and the Turks remained, for 
many more years, a terror for the Austrian and other neighboring 
nations. 

At last the time came when the Turks ceased to be a terror to the 
nations of Europe. Their empire began to decline with the death 
of Solyman, in 1566. Several great defeats destroyed the spell of 
their military fame and furnished the welcome proof that they were 
not invincible. Moreover, it soon became apparent that the great 
progress of military science in Central and Western Europe was large- 
ly improving the efficiency of the Christian armies, while the reign 
of several weak Ottoman rulers reflected itself in the declining dis- 
cipline of the Turkish troops. Though the Turks continued to meet 
with a few successes, their wars began to assume less of an aggressive 
and more of a defensive character. Their territorial losses began to 
exceed their gains, and no important addition of territory was made 
to the Empire after the beginning of the eighteenth century. But 
the most momentous among all the causes of Turkish decline was 
the rise of Enssian power. The Russians were among those nations 
of ]>rorthern Europe which had had to struggle against the advanc- 
ing Turks for their very existence. Thus the Russian and the 
Turkish Governments became hereditary enemies, and this enmity 
became all the more intense, after Peter the Great, about the end 
of the seventeenth century, had raised Russia to a level with the 
most pov^erful countries of Europe. The policy of Russia, with re- 
spect to Turkey, was from that time unmistakably more aggressive. 
The Czars were anxious, not only to avenge the Turkish aggressions 
of the past, but to extend their dominions at the expense of the 
Turks. Throughout the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries, 



30 THE WAR IN THE EAST. 

the two countries have been in an almost chronic state of enmity 
and war, and as during all this timeKussia has been steadily advanc- 
ing in extent and in power, and Turkey has been just as steadily 
progressing in its decay, it has more and more become the general 
belief that if the two powders should be left fighting out this hered- 
itary war single-handed, the Turks would finally be at the mercy of 
the Russians. This result appeared all the more inevitable, as Rus- 
sia had not only a steadily increasing preponderance of power in 
every new war, but was, moreover, aided by the outspoken sympathy 
of the Christian population of European Turkey. In proportion as 
the Ottoman Government became weaker, the demands of the Chris- 
tian population for liberation from Turkish oppression became more 
outspoken. Thus the Christians of European Turkey and the Rus- 
sians became natural allies, because they had at least one common in- 
terest, the weakening of the Turkish Government. The Christians 
of Turkey hailed every Russian victory as a forerunner of their own 
independence, and looked upon the Russians as their natural and 
most powerful patrons. The Russians, on the other hand, could not 
be blind to the great access of strength which such a patronage would 
give them in every new war against the Turks. Accordingly, when 
in 1774 the Turkish Government was compelled to conclude the 
fatal treaty of Kainardji, one of the articles of peace, which was in- 
sisted upon by Russia and conceded by Turkey, was the establish- 
ment of a Russian protectorate over the Danubian principalities, and 
a right of Russian guardianship over the Greek churches of Turkey. 
A treaty so humiliating for the Turks, of course stimulated the as- 
pirations of the Christians for freedom, and these aspirations were 
greatly stl'engthened by the greater acts of cruelty and oppression in 
which the Turkish Governors of Christian provinces thought they 
could indulge in view of the growing weakness of the Imperial Gov- 
ernment at Constantinople. Finally the aspirations of the Chris- 
tians found vent in the wars of independence, which began early in 
the present century, and resulted in the entire freedom of Greece, 
and the actual independence of Servia, the latter obtaining full seK- 
government, and having only, like Rumania, to pay a tribute to the 
Turk. If other provinces were less successful, repeated insurrec- 
tions in Bosnia, Albania, Bulgaria, and Crete at least reminded the 
Turks that their rule in these provinces was not less detested, that 
in any new war against the Russians the sympathies of the Chris- 
tians would be with the enemies of Turkey, and that any opportunity 



OUTLINE OF THE EASTERN QUESTION. 33 

for establishing the independence of the Christian provinces would 
be eagerly seized. 

The Christian powers of Europe have often deemed it their duty 
to support the demands of the Turkish Christians. The peace of 
Carlovitz, in 1699, compelled the Sultan, for the lirst time, to treat 
with the European powers in accordance with the received rules of 
international law, and thus gave to the Turks, rouch against their 
own will, a place in the family of European States. In virtue of 
this position the Christian powers have frequently found an oppor- 
tunity to force their diplomatic advice upon the Porte in behalf of 
the oppressed races ; and, once at least, in the case of the Creeks, 
they have actually co-operated in the establishment of an independ- 
ent State. More recently, the appointment of Christian Governors 
for the Christian ^provinces, and the coiiferring of some kind of 
provincial autonomy, was demanded of the Porte, and the whole 
of Europe, including all governments and all political parties, 
supported the Christian races in demanding it. But even if this 
concession had been made, it would not have sufficed to convert 
the Christians into contented, peaceful subjects. Their desire has 
long been overwhelmingly for the expulsion of the Turks from 
Europe, and in this demand they have been openly supported by 
the outspoken sympathy of many millions in the European coun- 
tries. Every prospect of an entire expulsion of the Turks from 
Europe, and the erection of one or several independent Christian 
States in the place of European Turkey, would be hailed by many 
thousands with boundless enthusiasm. The popularity of this pro- 
ject might long ago have hastened its execution, if all the men of 
influence and of intelligence among its patrons were not aware of 
the great difficulty of determining beforehand what is to be substi- 
tuted for the destroyed Turkish Empire in Europe. The Christian 
races of Turkey themselves have troubled themselves very little 
about this question. The friends of independence in each province 
have mostly been so absorbed with plans for achieving their own 
freedom, that hardly any of them appear to have given much 
thought to what should become of the whole of the European 
dominions of the Sultan. Garibaldi, who takes an ardent interest 
in the liberation of the Christian tribes, and has repeatedly olfered 
his services for achieving it, has proposed the erection of a republi- 
can confederation of all the races after the model of Switzerland, al- 
lowing each nationality a provincial autonomy. This view has some 



34 



THE IVAR IN THE EAST. 



friends, but tliere is not at present, and will not be for many years to 
come, the slightest prospect of its success, for the Christians of Tur- 
key have no republican sentiments, and the monarchs of Europe can 
not be expected to favor it. It is, hovv'ever, taken for granted that 
whenever the power of the Turks in Europe should actually come 
to an end, a conference of the great powers would assemble and 
arrange the future form of government. While Greeks, Albanians, 
and Bulgarians live almost exclusively under Turkish rule, and may 
therefore be enabled, by a dissolution of the Turkish Empire alone, 
to recover their independence as a nationality, it is different with 
the Servians and the Rumanians. Milhons of people of the same 
descent, and still speaking the same language, belong to the Austrian 
Empire — partly to Austria proper and partly to Hungary. Both 
nationalities are sufficiently numerous to constitute States of con- 
siderable size — if ever it should become possible to unite in a 
political union all the people speaking the same language. Now 
this project has not only been broached, but it has found influential 
adherents, both in Turkey and in Austria. The example of the 
kingdom of Italy, which has not only absorbed the petty States 
ruled by native princes, but has even succeeded in wresting from 
the powerful Austrian Empire the large and flourishing provinces 
of Lombardy and Yenetia, has greatly encouraged the enthusiasts 
to believe in the restoration of a united Servian and a united 
Rumanian nationality. It is evident that any attempt to carry out 
this visionary scheme is an act of open hostility' against Austria. 
Every progress, which a tendency in this direction should make 
among Austrian subjects, would threaten the Austrian Empire with 
a territorial loss such as was inflicted upon it by the Italians. There 
have been Austrian statesmen who, in view of the impending decay 
of the Turkish Empire, have indulged the hope that Austria might 
risk patronizing the nationality movements among the Servians and 
the Rumanians, with a view of making the two reconstructed 
nations integral parts of the polyglot Austrian Empire. The exe- 
cution of such a project would, however, revolutionize the entire 
policy of the house of Austria. It would equally offend the two 
ruling races, the Germans and the Hungarians, whose leading 
principle is to strengthen the preponderance which they already 
possess by the gradual absorption of the smaller Slavic tribes. In 
whatever light, therefore, this nationality movement, which some 
enthusiasts have started among the Rumanians and Servians, may 



OUTLINE OF THE EASTERN QUESTION. 



35 



be viewed, it has given to tlie Austrian Empire an entirely novel 
interest in the fate of the Servian and Rnmanian nationalities, and 
it has thns still more complicated the difficult Eastern Question. 

The same is the case with another movement of recent date — the 
so-called Panslavism. As the word indicates, this means some kind 
of union between all the sections of the Slavic race. Some Slavs 
have viewed it as a merely literary imion among all speaking Slavic 
languages, but more commonly it is regarded as a political move- 
ment, and in this sense it has made, and is making, a great stir in 
Europe. Though the Panslavists disagree in many respects among 
themselves, they are all agreed that all people speaking Slavic lan- 
guages should live under Slavic rule, and that the direct rule of 
Germans, Magyars, and Turks over Slavic tribes should come to an 
end. The first Panslavic agitators were revolutionists, who wished 
to overthrow, not only the rule of Germany, Austria, Hungary, and 
Turkey over their Slavic subjects, but even the rule of the Russian 
Emperors, and unite all the Slavs in one vast republican government. 
One of the most prominent leaders of this movement, Bakunin, is 
well known in the United States, which he visited after his escape 
from Siberia. At present this party, though not extinct, has com- 
paratively little influence upon the march of events. Among the 
Panslavists who now take a conspicuous part in the politics of the 
East-European States we may distinguish three sections. The one 
contents itself in Austria, Hungary, and Germany, with the demand 
that the Slavic populations be placed under Slavic administrations, 
with a legal protection of the Sla^dc tongue as the mother tongue 
of the provinces and districts in which it prevails. The German 
Heichstag often hears these demands from the leaders of the Poles ; 
the Austrian Reichsrath from the leaders of the Czechs, Poles, and 
other Slavs ; the Hungarian Diet, from the leaders of the Servians. 
A second party of Panslavists is frank enough to aim directly at the 
overthrow of the non-Slavic Governments which rule over Slavic 
populations, and at a reconstruction of a number of independent 
Slavic Empires which are to be closely united for mutual protection 
among themselves, and with the giant representative of Slavism, 
Russia. The third party regards as the easiest road to the realization 
of the Panslavic schemes the union of all the scattered Slavs with 
Russia. Many German, Hungarian, and Turkish statesmen and 
writers agree in charging the Russian Government with employing 
paid emissaries to spread Panslavic views of this latter kind in 



36 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Austrian and Turkish provinces. At all events, Panslavic agitations 
have made a mark in the history of all the States of Eastern Europe. 
In European Turkey, not only the Servian nationality, embracing 
the Bosnians, Herzegovinians, and Montenegrins, but the Bulgarians, 
speak Slavic languages, and are therefore accounted as members of 
the Slavic world. Among both, Eussian Panslavists have been hard 
at work, and the impressions made by them are visible in the history 
of late events. Midhat Pasha, when Governor-General of the vilayet 
of the Danube, had several Panslavic agitators executed, and openly 
accused them of being Russian agents. In Austria, and especially 
in Hungary, the progress of this Panslavic agitation has long been 
anxiously watched, and the feelings of sympathy which the horrors 
of Turkish rule do not fail to call forth, even in Austria, are to a 
large extent neutralized or entirely overcome by the fear of a grow- 
ing Russian preponderance. 

The Panslavic idea offers advantages to Russia so great and so ob- 
vious that Russian statesmen can not be expected to overlook them, 
whatever reserve the regard for international relations and duties 
may outwardly impose upon them. But whatever the relations of 
the Government of Russia to the Panslavic agitations may have been, 
the policy which she had steadfastly pursued, in her wars against 
Turkey, has been thoroughly Russian, not Slavic or Panslavic. Her 
chief aim in weakening Turkey has always been to build up a strong 
Russian Empire. Since Peter the Great all the Emperors appear to 
have followed a definite plan in their struggle for aggrandizement. 
In order to raise her people above the level of merely agricultural 
nations, and develop their commerce and industries, Russia, with 
unwavering steadiness, has endeavored to gain a firm footing on the 
Black Sea. This aim has gradually been reached by the conquests 
of the eighteenth century, and Russian vessels can now, from the 
Black Sea, proceed to the Mediterranean. But one great drawback 
remained. The connection with the Mediterranean can at any time 
be interrupted by the closing of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, 
which are controlled by the Turks. Therefore, the conquest and oc- 
cupation of Constantinople would be an immense advantage for 
Russia, for it would fully carry out the intentions of Peter the Great, 
and complete the work which the founder of Russian greatness be- 
gan. It can hardly be doubted that the Russian statesmen who have 
desired, for more than a century, the possession of Constantinople, 
have been guided chiefly by this consideration, though other reasons 



OUTLINE OF THE EASTERN QUESTION. 



37 



may have co-operated to make the desire as strong and as wide- 
spread as it is at present among the Russian people. When the 
Turks had destroyed the East-Roman Empire, the Czar of Russia 
became, in the place of the Emperors of the East- Roman Empire, 
the protector of the Greek Church; he appeared as their natural 
successor, and it is not surprising that at the outbreak of every new 
war against the Turks, the Russian peasantry should hope, with fe- 
verish anxiety, for the news that the Czar had made his entrance in- 
to the city of Constantinople, which they call Czargrad, or city of the 
Czar, and that mass should once more be celebrated in the great 
church of St. Sophia, now the chief of the Mohammedan mosques. 
It is also known that one of the great empresses of Russia, Catharine 
IL, conceived the plan of reviving the Byzantine Empire, and that 
one of her grandsons had to learn for that purpose the modern Greek 
language. But the chief consideration, for the Russian statesmen 
and emperors during the last two centuries has been the desire to 
get full control of a sea coast, as an indispensable necessity for de- 
veloping fully all the resources of the vast empire. 

As the intentions of Russia, with regard to Turkey, have long 
been, and will be in future, of prime importance for the final solu- 
tion of the Eastern Question, it will be interesting to hear the views 
of a distinguished Russian writer. Professor Martens, of the Uni- 
versity of St. Petersburg, has made the history of the relations be- 
tween Russia and Turkey a special study, has published, for the first 
time, a number of official documents relating to it, and has reviewed 
the whole subject in a treatise which is, at all events, a valuable con- 
tribution to the history of the Eastern Question. The design of the 
article is to show that the views generally entertained of the aims and 
policy of Russia wdth reference to Turkey have been mistaken. It 
sets forth that within the present century, at least, Russia, so far 
from seeking to destroy the Turkish Empire, has insisted upon its 
being maintained ; and that while it has held it a supreme duty to 
protect the Christian subjects of the Porte, it has always endeavored 
to accomplish the object through the united action of the powers, 
always hesitating to act alone till the attempt to secure co-operation 
had failed. The article deserves attention, both on account of the 
new views it gives of Russian history and policy in the East, and be- 
cause its positions are supported by citations from documents which 
are now for the first time made known to the public. 

Prof. Martens' first endeavor is to show from the public declara- " 



38 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



tions of Eiissian statesmen that ever since the pacification of Europe, 
after the wars of Napoleon made concert possible, it has sought to 
exercise its right only in concert with the powers, and has steadily 
endeavored to secure the permanent well-being of the Christians of 
Turkey by placing them under the_ collective protection of Chi'istian 
Europe. In 1815, at the time of the meeting of the Congress of 
Yienna, the Russian Government addressed a note to the alli&s, 
nroino' them to extend the oblio^ations of the law of nations over 
Turkey, and particularly to exact of the Porte a correction of the 
practice of reducing prisoners of war to slaveiy. The invitation 
was not heeded, and the affairs of Turkey were not considered in 
the Congress. At the beginning of the Greek insurrection, in 1821, 
Hussia sought to interest the powers in behalf of the revolted Greeks. 
In one of the notes on the subject the Government, referring to the 
possibility of its being impelled to act, said that the Russian armies 
would march, not to extend the frontiers of the Empire, or to gain 
a preponderance for which it had no ambition, but to restore peace, 
confirm the equilibrium of Em'ope, and secure to the countries of 
European Turkey the benefits of a tappy and inoffensive political 
existence. In 1825 the Government, in a circular note on the same 
subject, declared that "in associating ourselves with our allies, we 
adopt a measure of which the first effect is that no event can be 
turned to our exclusive profit, or can distni'b the equilibrium of 
Europe ; on the contrary, all the results will be common, and all the 
intervening powers will participate in a just and even proportion." 

At the negotiation of the treaty of Adrianople, Russia proposed 
conditions intended to secure the peace of Europe for several years. 
After the constituting of the kingdom of Greece, it continued to seek 
to secure for the Christian populations the protection of the powers, 
sometimes by friendly overtures to the Porte, sometimes by invok- 
ing the concert of the powers. While the preliminaries for the 
treaty of Paris were under .negotiation in Yienna in 1855 and 1856, 
the powers insisted that Russia should give up its claim to the right 
of protecting the Chiistian subjects. Russia interposed no objection 
to tlie demand, as appears by the protocol of the 15th of ^March, 
1855, save to exact the condition that the religious rights of the 
Christian populations should be placed under the protection of all 
the contracting powers. Again, on the 5th of January, 1856, the 
Russian Cabinet declared that the Emperor desired to raise his voice, 
in common with the other Em'opean powers, in favor of his co- 



OUTLINE OF THE EASTERN QUESTION. 



39 



religionists, and to be associated with tliem in deliberations having 
for their object to assure to the Christian subjects of the Sultan their 
religious and political rights ; and in March following, in signifying 
the adhesion of his Government to this policy, Prince Gortchakoff 
declared in the Conference that it was convinced that nothing was 
better fitted to facilitate the government of his Empire by the Sul- 
tan than for him to do what he could to add to the happiness and 
satisfaction of his Christian subjects. 

While Turkey and some of the other contracting powers have 
held that the treaty of Paris prohibited interference with the in- 
ternal affairs of the Turkish provinces, Russia holds that the prohi- 
bition is based upon the promise of reforms which was given by 
Turkey in the publication of the Hatti-Humayiin, and that its ob- 
ligation is dependent upon the due and efficient execution of these 
reforms ; pmd it insists that the other parties to the treaty acted upon 
the same view, when, on the occasion of the Mussulman outbreaks 
in Syria in 1860, they permitted French troops to be despatched to 
the province to restore order, and the Porte accepted the interven- 
tion as '* a manifestation of the sympathies of the allied powers." 
Again, on the occasion of the Cretan insurrection, in 1866, Pussia 
endeavored to induce the Porte to adopt measures for the improve- 
ment of the condition of the people of the island, but was not 
supported by the powers, and its efforts were fruitless. In a de- 
spatch of the 12th of May, 1869, Prince Gortchakoft' again laid 
down the doctrine, which the Russian Government had never ceased 
to insist upon, that the collective authority of the great powers, in 
order to be effective, should be exercised collectively, and that a 
combined action afforded the best means of introducing improve- 
ments in the condition of the Christians, to be carried out through 
the agency of the Porte. K number of facts which have only re- 
cently been brought to light, tend, according to Prof. Martens, to 
show that the Russian Government has become con^dnced that the 
continuance of the Tm^kish Empire on the Bosphorus affords the 
conditions least disadvantageous to the commercial and political in- 
terests of Russia, and that its later policy has been governed by this 
conviction. In the war of 1828, when the Russian armies had 
reached Adrianople, and the complete downfall of the Turkish 
Empire seemed imminent, the Czar ISTicholas appointed a commission 
to consider what should be done in the expected contingency. 
Count ITesselrode laid before this commission, on the 4th of Sep- 



40 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



tember, 1829, a memorandum, frankly setting forth, the view of the 
Kussian Government, in which he said : We have always considered 
that the preservation of the Ottoman Empire would be more useful 
than injurious to the true interests of Eussia, and that any condi- 
tion that could be substituted for it would only balance for ns the 
advantage of having a weak State for a neighbor ; " but, if the fall 
of the Turkish Empire was inevitable, or the rule of Turkey should 
be replaced by a new combination, then Russia should invite its 
allies " to deliberate in common with it on this gTeat question. To 
desire to solve it without their participation, while their strongest 
interests were involved in it, would be to affront their honor, and 
charge ourselves with a too great responsibility." The commission 
had also to consider a memoir by Councillor Dashkoff, a distin- 
guished specialist, the burden of which was to show that Kussia 
needed no new accpisitions of territory. This paper sets forth that 
the present Russia should occupy itself with securing its frontiers 
and developing its resources, rather than in seeking after new lands. 
A policy involving the destruction of the Turkish Empire must be 
regarded as against the true interests of Russia. It was not denied, 
that in times past, Russia had entertained designs of conquest 
against Turkey, but those times were forever at an end, and the 
Russia of the eighteenth was not the Russia of the nineteenth cen- 
tury. A plan was also laid before the commission which had been 
proposed by the Count Capo d'Istria, for the reconstruction of the 
Balkan peninsula and its division into five States, according to the 
nationalities and the race affinities of the people, with governors 
chosen from five European princely houses of the second rank to 
rule over them, which should form a confederacy to be represented 
by a Congress meeting annually in Constantinople, M^hich, with an 
enlarged territory, was to be constituted a free city. Without tak- 
ing formal action on this plan, whicb it is known, however, was not 
acceptable to them, the commission concluded as the result of their 
deliberations : 1. That the advantages afforded by maintaining the 
Ottoman Empire outweighed the inconveniences occasioned by it ; 
2. That the fall of Turkey would be against the true interests of 
Russia ; 3. That it would therefore be wise to prevent such an event, 
and for that purpose to make use of every opportunity to conclude 
an honorable peace. 

When the existence of the -Ottoman Empire was again put in peril 
between 1830 and 1840, by the operations of Mehemet Ali, pasha 




MIDHAT PASHA. 



PRINCE GORTCHAKOFF. 



OUTLINE OF THE EASTERN QUESTION. 



43 



of Egypt, EiTssia concluded a defensive alliance with the Porte, sent 
a fleet and an army corps to Constantinople, and at a later period 
acted in co-operation with England, Austria, and Prussia, to defend 
the Empire against its dangerous enemy. The Kussian policy at 
that time was defined in a note from Count ITesselrode to the Czar, 
June 7, 1833, in which he said : " Our system in regard to the 
East has had for its principal tendency to give a greater consistency 
to certain parts of the Turkish Empire." 

"When the condition of Turkish affairs had reached its worst, and 
there seemed no possibility of preserving the Empire, the Czar sought 
a consultation with the Austrian Government, as the power which 
had the most direct interest in the affairs of the Balkan peninsula. 
At an interview with the Austrian Ambassador, on the 8th of Febru- 
ary, 1833, after describing the sad situation of the Porte, with its 
internal disorders complicating the dangers from without, and ex- 
pressing his wiUingness to come to its help if that was desired, he 
added, but that is all that I can do. I can not give life to a dead 
body, and the Turkish Empire is dead; but," he continued, "if it 
falls, I do not want any of its remains, I have no need of them." In 
the same year the treaty of MtLnchengratz was concluded between 
Pussia and Austria, in which the two powers mutually engaged 
themselves to persevere in the policy of maintaining the existence 
of the Ottoman Empire under the actual dynasty, and to consecrate 
to that end, " in a perfect accord," every means of influence and ac- 
tion in their power. In contemplation, however, of the possible ex- 
tinction of the Turkish Empire, a secret article was added to the 
treaty providing that the two powers should act in concert and in a 
perfect spirit of solidarity in reference to everything that concerned 
the establishment of the new order of things which it would be 
necessary to arrange. In 1839, Mehemet Ali again rose against his 
suzerain and put Constantinople in peril. England and France now 
appeared as the champions of Turkey, both being actuated by sus- 
picions of the designs of Russia. Under these circumstances the 
Czar repeatedly instructed his representatives at London, Paris, and 
Yienna to use all their influence to confine the conflict between 
Turkey and Egypt to as narrow limits as possible, so that it should 
not compromise the general peace oi Europe. At the same time he 
sought to induce the Cabinet of Yienna to make the convention of 
MtLnchengratz the basis of the policy on which the two powers 
should continue to act together. The Government uistructed its 
3 



44 THE WAR IN THE EAST. 

Ambassador at Yienna to represent tliat the Czar was then, as be- 
fore, firmlj resolved to employ every means in his power to main- 
tain the existence of the Ottoman Empire under the actnal djTiasty ; 
to oppose every combination which conld attack the independence 
of the authority of the Sidtan ; to accept no order of affairs which 
might imperil the actnal existence of the Ottoman Empire; and, 
finally, to agree with Austria npon the most efficacious measures to 
be adopted in common, between the two hnperial courts, to prevent 
the dangers which a sudden change in the existence of the Ottoman 
Empire might bring to those parts of their estates which bordered 
on Turkey. The Czar, it is explained, thus decided to take the side 
of the Sidtan, not because of any particular friendship to him, but 
because he was convinced that if the Turldsh Empire was destroyed, 
Mehemet Ali would be able to build up a new living State, danger- 
ous to Russia. The Czar at this time declined to join in a call for a 
conference of the great powers, because it was convinced that France 
and England were seeking objects opposed to Russian interests, or 
in other words, that they did not wish to secure the repose of the 
East, as much as to fetter the Russian power. The Russian Gov- 
ernment proposed to Austria, in 1843, to communicate confidentially 
to the powers the terms of the convention of Miinchengratz, which 
provided for the maintenance of the Turkish power in Europe, 
hoping thereby to dissipate the prejudices and suspicions prevalent 
in England against Russia. The Austrian Minister would not agree 
to make it known, and the convention remained a secret until it 
was very recently revealed. It is doubtful if publication, even 
at the time it was suggested, would have had any influence upon 
English feeling, which had already begun to become an element of 
party division. The prevailing opinion that Russia opposed the 
closing of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus to ships of war is con- 
tradicted by Prof. Martens, who cites from the Imperial archives 
evidence that no power contended with as much energy for the clos- 
ing of the straits as Russia. The G-overnment repeatedly instructed 
its representatives, while the negotiations were going on, to insist 
upon this point, and the Czar JSTicholas is said to have declared cate- 
gorically that the security of the Turkish Empire, and of the Rus- 
sian possessions on the Black Sea, could not be guaranteed unless it 
was carried. On this 'point, Russia was opposed to the Austrian 
Cabinet, who sought to separate this question from that of the in- 
tegrity of Turkey. 



OUTLINE OF THE EASTERN QUESTION, 



45 



The Russian Ambassador made explanations of the views of his 
Government to Lord Paknerston, which, while they did not remove 
the jealousy and apprehension of the Russian purposes entertained by 
the British Government and people, led the Premier to declare that 
both England and Russia had often had cause to regret that the duty 
of solving the Eastern Question had not been given to them alone. 
The Czar gave his full assent to a note intended to influence the 
domestic policy of the Turkish Government, which was drawn up 
by Prince Metternich, the Austrian Prime Minister, in 1841. In 
this paper it was announced that the intrinsic defects of the Turk- 
ish system, growing out of the want of homogenity of the people 
and the weakness of the Government, were aggravated and intensi- 
fied by the efforts to introduce reforms in the European fashion, 
which the Sultans were endeavoring to carry out " without any other 
support than a profound ignorance and an immense mass of illu- 
sions." The document contained the strange doctrine that " States 
in decay are, as a rule, less able to govern themselves under happy 
circumstances than in misfortune, which has become for them a 
normal condition, a species of second nature," and gave the advice 
that the Turks should establish their Government upon respect for 
their own religious institutions, consult and act upon the emergen- 
cies of the moment, and "remain Turks. Accord to your Christian 
subjects the most complete protection ; exercise toward them a 
genuine tolerance ; do not suffer Pashas and subalterns to molest 
them ; do not meddle in their religious affairs, but be their sovereign 
protector in all their privileges ; keep all the promises that you made 
in the edict of Gulhane." Russia repeated substantially the same 
advice in a note addressed to the Porte about a month later. It was 
mistaken advice ; but the fact exists that the two powers held the 
views it embodies at the time it was given. Prof. Martens, at the con- 
clusion of his review, sums up the principles of Russian policy in the 
East to be : 1. Russia has always considered the fate of the Christian 
subjects of the Porte a matter of common concern to all the European 
powers ; 2. In case the great powers reach no common understanding, 
that one of them, whose interests are drawn most directly into sym- 
pathy by disturbances in the East, has the moral and judicial right 
to intervene in the internal affairs of Turkey ; and, 3. The prime 
and real object of Russian policy in respect to the Ottoman Empire 
has been nothing else than the improvement of the condition of the 
Christian populations without distinction of race and faith. 



46 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The growth of Russia, at the expense of Turkey, and the plans of 
further aggrandizement, which are commonly attributed to it, have 
nowhere aroused so great jealousy and so bitter enmity as among 
some of the leading statesmen of England. Russia and England 
are at present the two great Empires of the world. If we say that 
the Emperor of Russia and the Queen each rule over a territory of 
more than 8,000,000 square miles, or more than double the extent 
of the United States, and that the Empire next to them in point of 
size has less than 4,000,000 square miles, it will be seen how far 
both, in this respect, have run ahead of the remainder of the world. 
A position like this is well adapted to engender feelings of rivalry 
and jealousy. Both Empires are still continuing to annex new terri- 
tory, and in the race for the highest place among the States, neither 
would like to be greatly distanced by the other. In Asia the borders 
of the two Empires now almost meet, and mauy British statesmen 
have long been haunted by the fear that the disappeai^ance of this 
small neutral zone, which still separates British India from the 
latest Russian conquest, may soon be followed by a collision of the 
two great Empires. In such a case Russia would have the great mil- 
itary advantage over England that all the parts of the Russian Em 
pire are a compact whole, and that nets of railroads may enable the 
Government to bring within a short time vast bodies of troops to 
any point. India, on the other hand, is separated by an immense 
distance from England, and it will take a much longer time to obtain 
reinforcements from England. The route to India has of late been 
greatly shortened by the construction of the Suez Canal, and an alli- 
ance with the power in whose dominions lies the canal, is therefore 
of obvious advantage to England. Eormerly the importance for 
England of Constantinople, in case of a war with Russia, was fre- 
quently discussed, as the shortest land route between England and 
India would lead through Germany, Austria, and Turkey. Since 
the construction of the Suez Canal, Constantinople is no longer so 
much talked of ; but it is urged that as Turkey is the irreconcilable 
enemy of Russia, it is the manifest interest of England to maintain 
the Turkish power as much as possible, as in the present state of 
international relations, England can at any time compel the alliance 
of the Turks. All this reasoning, it will be seen, depends upon the 
supposition that there may be at some future time some tremendous 
war between Russia and England ; that in this war, Turkey can not 
help siding with England, and that therefore England must keep 



OUTLINE OF THE EASTERN QUESTION. 



47 



Turkey as powerful as possible, and tliat she must, as mucli as pos- 
sible, prevent any further aggrandizement of Russia. It is, however, 
only the statesmen of one party, the Tories, who hold these anti- 
Russian views. The other gTeat party in England, the Liberals, are 
decidedly unfavorable and hostile to Turkey. They insist that in 
any speculation on the future, the utter rottenness of the Turkish 
Empire can not be overlooked ; that it would be unworthy of En- 
gland to disregard the terrible wrongs of the Christian provinces and 
their just claims to independence ; that the fears of an impending 
conflict between Russia and England are greatly exaggerated ; that 
wise statesmanship may remove the danger of a very serious compli- 
cation, and that with regard to Turkey, an alhance between England 
and Russia might furnish at once the best solution of the Eastern 
Question by putting an end to the rule of the Turks over Christian 
provinces and Christian races. The controversy of the great politi- 
cal parties of England on this question has been carried on with 
great bitterness, and the Eastern Question has thus been in England 
for years the subject of the most venomous parliamentary war. The 
attitude of the ruhng party of England with regard to any new com- 
plication between Russia and Turkey is a matter of grave impor- 
tance ; the changing ascendency of the two parties makes the great 
solution of the Eastern Question all the more obscure. In 1853, the 
anti-Russian party engaged with Turkey, France, and Sardinia in 
the Crimean war, which resulted in the defeat and humiliation of 
Russia. When the Bosnian insurrection of 1875 inaugurated the 
new Eastern war, the anti-Russian party was again in power, and 
great apprehensions were therefore again felt that this war might 
assume very large dimensions. 

It is evident that the powers most directly and immediately inter- 
ested in the solution of the Eastern Question — the Christian races 
of Turkey, Austria, Russia, and England — widely and radically dif- 
fer in their views. The Cliristian races agree in the demand of an 
entire expulsion of the Turks from Europe, and of the substitution 
for the Turkish dominion in Europe of a number of independent 
States, based upon the nationality principle. The real designs of 
the Russian policy are, to a large extent, shrouded in mystery ; but 
it is fully admitted by Russia, that she wants a greater development 
of her naval strength and, therefore, free naval communication with 
the Mediterranean. The views of the Russian Government with 
regard to the Turkish rule in Europe have undergone many changes ; 



48 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



but the "unchanging element in them is the desire of Russia to see 
the Balkan peninsnla, if not in her own possession, at least occupied 
by weak and impotent States. The attention of England is mo- 
nopolized by the question whether Russia plans any movements which 
might endanger the British interests in the East, Austria is chiefly 
concerned in preventing the establishment of powerful States on 
her southern border, which might increase the dissatisfaction of 
the Slavic and Rumanian population of Austria, i^one of the 
other States of Europe has so direct and immediate an interest in 
Turkish affairs as the powers just mentioned. France has taken 
the Catholic subjects of Turkey under her special protection, and 
was formerly very active in the affairs of the East, but has been 
compelled by its own internal condition, since 18T0, to refrain from 
conspicuous participation relating to them. In general, the European 
States can not be supposed to be favorably disposed toward an ex- 
tension of Russian rule in South-eastern Europe; for, even the 
present extent of the Russian Empire is believed by most of them 
to involve great dangers for the future. But in case of general wars 
arising out of complications in the East, some States may always 
expect to derive greater advantages from an alliance with Russia, 
than from joining an anti-Russian combination. Thus, the German 
Government has been for many years on intmiate terms with the 
Government of Russia, and maj be expected to aid Russia, at least 
indirectly, in her Eastern policy, as long as she can rely on a similar 
aid from Russia in case of new complications with France. Even 
the Emperor of Austria attributed so great importance to friendly 
relations with the Czar of Russia, that he formed, in 18Y2, an agree- 
ment with the Emperors of Russia and Germany, which has been 
knowm as the Tri-Imperial Alliance, or the Alliance of the Three 
Emperors, and by which it was stipulated that they should act in 
common in international complications, and that neither should take 
an important step without first consulting the others. 

The progressing decay of Turkey on the one hand, and the diverg- 
ing views of the great powers of Europe, in regard to the future of 
the Balkan peninsula, on the other, naturally awakened an immediate 
interest of all Europe in any Turkish war, and generally led to the, 
at least diplomatic, interference of other governments. When the 
intervention of England and her allies had ended the Turkish- 
Egyptian conflict, the treaties of 1840 and 1841 formally admitted 
Turkej into the political system of European States. The attempt 



OUTLINE OF THE EASTERN QUESTION. 



49 



of Eussia to extort from the Porte in the Crimean war (1853-1855) 
certain guarantees of the rights of the Greek Christians in Turkey, 
induced England, France, and Sardinia to take sides with Turkey, 
on the ground that the very existence of Turkey and the equilibrimn 
of power in Europe were endangered by Russia. The Treaty of 
Paris (1856), while it expressly denied the right of the powers to 
interfere in the domestic concerns of the Empire, defined the priv- 
ileges of the tributary States, and made the powers guarantees of their 
preservation, and referring to concessions which the Porte had 
promised to the people of the provinces still subject, by implication 
gave the powers the right to exert a moral influence in favor of their 
being carried into efiect. On the other side, the treaty worked to pre- 
vent Eussia or any other State acting singly from constituting itself the 
especial guardian of the rights and interests of the Christian sub- 
jects, and made the same a matter of general European concern. 
The first occasion on which the provisions of the treaty afterward 
came up for discussion, was on the occasion of the massacre of 
Christians in Syria, in 1860, when a Erench coi-ps was sent, with the 
unwilling consent of the Porte, to restore order. It would have 
remained in Syria after the emergency which justified its presence 
had passed, had it not been for the force of the objections which 
were set up under the Paris treaty. The next occasion was during 
the Cretan insurrection in 1866, when an intervention which would 
have been a clear violation of Turkish sovereignty and of the 
Treaty of Paris, seemed imminent for a considerable time, and was 
barely prevented. In 1870, Eussia, taking advantage of a time 
when one of the parties to the Treaty of Paris could not make 
effectual opposition, and the others were not prepared to resist its 
demand by force, insisted upon an essential modification of some of 
the provisions of the treaty, and obtained them at the London con- 
ference a few months afterward. A few comparatively unimpor- 
tant points touching the Eastern Question were brought forward in 
the transactions of the three succeeding years. The agitation of the 
demands of the Bulgarians for ecclesiastical autonomy, which was 
settled in 1872, prompted some of the powers to make representa- 
tions of their views to the Porte, but their offices were not accepted. 

In 1873, the Eussian Government, after a correspondence, the 
friendliness of which has been especially remarked upon, obtained 
from the Porte the grant to Eussian subjects residing in Turkey, of 
considerable privileges and immunities in addition to those which 



50 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



they had before enjoyed. In 1873, the Porte complained of Eu- 
mania for encroacMng upon the rights of the Sultan by concluding 
treaties with foreign powers without consulting with its suzerain. 
In the course of the correspondence which ensued, the Austrian, 
Hussian, and other Governments informed the Porte that they could 
not suffer the important interests which they had upon the Danube 
to be interfered with by exaggerated pretensions of suzerainty on 
the Bosphorus, and that they intended to carry on their negotiations 
directly with the Rumanian Government. The Turkish Govern- 
ment replied that the Treaty of Paris must be maintained ; but that 
if Eumania would submit its case, and the provisions of its treaties, 
to the Porte, arrangements could be made satisfactory to the parties. 
About this time, also, the Rumanian Government attracted attention 
by holding military maneuvers of a character which seemed more 
befitting an independent State than a principality which owed alle- 
giance to a superior government. A correspondence took place be- 
tween Turkey and Montenegro in 1874, respecting some murders 
committed by Turks upon Montenegrins at Podgoritza, in which 
Russia and Germany sought to promote intervention, but the Porte 
refused to tolerate it, and the affair was finally settled between the 
two parties immediately concerned. 

Finally, the Herzegovinian insurrection, breaking out in 18Y5, 
threatened to bring up the whole Eastern Question in all of its com- 
plications, and actually produced that result in the end. The suc- 
cessive steps that were taken to ensure the speedy suppression of the 
insun^eetion, to prevent its spread, to keep the other provinces from 
participating in the movement, and to induce Turkey to satisfy the 
public sentiment of Europe, and their failure, are recorded in the 
pages that follow. The moral aid of Great Britain, as the power 
supposed to be most influential with the Turkish Government, was 
invoked in behalf of the reasonable requests of the Christians, and 
was given, in the British signature to the Andrassy note ; but when 
the Biitish Government was asked to go further and sanction a 
threat of force by signing the Berlin note, it declined ; for it was 
determined not to consent to a new European war upon Turkey un- 
der any pretext. After the failure of the conference proposed by 
England, and of the protocol, Russia professed to consider that it 
had fulfilled all the conditions of the Tri-Imperial Alliance, and could 
be no longer held bound by the restrictions of the Treaty of Paris, 
and decided to go to war upon its own responsibility. 



OUTLINE OF THE EASTERN QUESTION, 



51 



We have now reviewed all the different elements which constitute 
the Eastern Question — the hatred of the Turks bj the Christian prov- 
inces and the anxious hope of the latter for deliverance from Turk- 
ish rule ; the sympathy of Russia with the Christians of Turkey, 
and her desire for the crippling of Turkey, and for her own aggran- 
dizement ; the distrust with which Austrian and Hungarian states- 
men look upon the movements g'oing on among the Slavs ; the 
jealousy of the ruling British statesmen against the designs of Rus- 
sia. In the entire history of the Eastern Question during the nine- 
teenth century it has been assumed as granted that the Turks alone 
would not be able to arrest the progressing decay of their Empire. 
The parties concerned have regarded Turkey as " the sick man " 
whose consumptive life has been with difficulty prolonged by arti- 
iicial means. The implacable enemies of the Turks have repre- 
sented all the reforms that have been attempted by them, as mean- 
ingless and insincere ; her patrons have had to admit that they were 
insufficient to avert the impending danger. When the Eastern Ques- 
tion, in 1875, once more began to expand into another Eastern war, 
it was the common opinion that without aid from England or Aus- 
tria it would be extremely difficult, and perhaps impossible, for Tur- 
key to resist the combined onset of her own Christian subjects and 
of the Russians. 

Before we enter into a narrative of this war, a brief historical 
sketch of the belligerent powers and their present condition will 
be needed to understand fully the great events on the scene of hos- 
tilities. 



CHAPTER II. 



HISTOKICAL SKETCH OF EIJSSIA. 

Origin of the Russians— The Republic of Noygorod— Occupation of Russia by the Mon- 
gol Tartars— Rise of the Principality of Moscow — Ivan the Great, the First Prince 
who called Himself Czar — Ivan the Terrible — Michael Romanoff— Peter the Great — 
Anna — Elizabeth — Catherine the Great — Alexander I. — Nicholas I. — Alexander II. 

The Russian Empire has attained its present vast extent and 
power by a career of aggression and conquest which, it has carried 
on almost uninterruptedly since the fifteenth centmy. Russia first 
came into notice as a State in the ninth century. The country 
known as Sarmatia to the ancients, had been occupied by different 
tribes, the principal of which were Slavs and Finns, while the 
Scythians dwelt in the south-east, around the Caspian Sea. l!^ov- 
gorod, the oldest of the Russian towns, often called the Mother 
of the Russian cities," was a flourishing republic in the ninth 
century, inhabited by Slavs, and surrounded by Finnic settlements. 
It became involved in dissensions, and the Slavs, with some of the 
Finnic tribes, invited Rmik, a chief of the Yarangian tjibe called 
Rus, to come and assist them and reign over them. Rurik came 
about the year 862, with two of his brothers, both of whom died 
shortly afterward, put down the dissensions, and made himself 
master of the country. The sovereign authority remained in the 
hands of his descendants for nearly two hundred years. The name 
of the tribe Rus, to which Rurik belonged, is perpetuated in the 
present name of the Empire. The story of Rm-ik, which is sup- 
posed to embody the history of the foundation of the Empire, is 
symbolized in a monument of original and peculiar design, which 
was erected in the principal square of i^ovgorod in 1862, in com- 
memoration of the thousandth anniversary of that event. 

Oleg, who succeeded Rurik as regent, annexed the principality 
of Kiev, designing to make the city of that name the capital of the 
State, and made war upon the Khazars, who lived between the 
Dnieper and the Caspian Sea. Sviatoslav, 95 T to 972, continued 
the wars against the Khazars, attacked the Bulgarians and other 
tribes as far as the Black Sea, and extended the borders of the State 

(52) 




MONUMENT ERECTED AT NOVGOROD 
Commemorating the iodoth Anniversary of the Founding of the Russian Empire. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF RUSSIA. 



55 



to tlie Sea of Azo7. Upon the death of this prince, the territory 
was divided among his sons, and continued to be divided, with the 
exception of short intervals of union, till the nation became in effect 
a kind of a confederacy, of which the different members were rivals 
to each other, and in dissension. Losses of territory were suffered 
from the aggressions of the Lithuanians, Poles, Teutonic Knights, and 
other rival States, till finally, in 1237, the country was overrun, and 
the greater part of it taken possession of and made tributary by the 
Mongol Tartars, followers of Genghis Khan. The city of ITovgorod 
maintained its independence during the greater part of the two and 
a half centuries of the Tartar occupation, but with smaller extraneous 
territory and diminishing influence. One of its sovereigns, Alex- 
ander Nevskoi, 124:7 to 1263, distinguished himself by victories over 
the Swedes, Livonians, and Lithuanians. This little State remained, 
during its whole existence, really a republic, its prince, or executive, 
possessing merely such authority as was freely granted to him by 
the people. " The supreme power," says Wallace, in his Russia," 
" resided not in the prince, but in the assembly of the citizens called 
together in the market-place by the sound of the great bell." This 
assembly made laws " for the prince as well as for the people," 
entered into alliances, imposed taxes, and performed all the other 
functions of government, including the election of magistrates and 
the judgment and deposition of them when it thought fit. It was 
its attachment for their old institutions, and its unwillingness to 
accept despotism instead of them, that brought upon ^Tovgorod the 
savage destruction inflicted upon it in the sixteenth century by Ivan 
the Terrible. 

The principality of Moscow — from which Russia was for a long 
time known abroad as Muscovy — rose into prominence dunng the 
fourteenth century, and began to absorb the other Russian States. 
Ivan I., 1328 to 1340, united with it the principality of Tver. Deme- 
trius was engaged in hard conflicts with the Mongols. Yasili II., 
1389 to 1425, incorporated JSTijni Novgorod, and Suzdal, and Yasili 
III., 1425 to 1462, added Halicz, Mozhaisk, and Berovsk. The 
principality of Moscow, as thus formed, at the accession of Ivan III., 
the Great, in 1462, was the nucleus around which has grown the 
present Empire. It occupied a territory of nearly seven hundred 
miles in length from north to south, and two himdred miles in 
breadth from east to west, situated between the 51st and 61st de- 
grees of north latitude, with the cities of Mjni I^ovgorod, and Tver 



56 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



nearly marking its extreme eastern and western limits. Ivan the 
Great, ltl:62 to 1505, delivered the land entirely from the Tartars, 
made the Khan of Kazan tributary, annexed Xovgorod, Perm, Pskov, 
and several other Pnssian principalities, and carried the Kussian arms 
into Siberia, in ltl:99, bnt was defeated in a war with Livonia by the 
Teutonic Knights in 1501. Ivan was a haughty prince, the first of 
the inilers of Kussia to assume the title of Czar, and laid great stress, 
in his intercourse with the other sovereigns of Europe, on his equality 
with them. He built the Kremlin at Moscow, introduced improved 
arms, began to develop the mines of precious metals, and introduced 
Russia to foreign intercourse. His successor, Yasili lY., 1505 to 
1533, by the final incorporation of Pskov, in 1510, completed the ex- 
tinction of the semi-independent principalities into which the Em- 
pire had been divided, and made the Tartars of Kazan tributary. 
At the close of his reign, Russia extended from near the fiftieth de- 
gree of north latitude to the Arctic Ocean, and from the Ural Moun- 
tains to the eastern borders of Finland, Livonia, and Lithuania. 
Ivan lY., the Terrible, 1533 to 1584, who united with the most 
heinous crimes some splendid virtues, and was at once a scourge and 
a benefactor to Russia, reconquered Kazan, subdued Astrakhan, and 
united the country of the Don with the Empire. Siberia was con- 
quered during his reign by a Cossack freebooter, Yarmak Timofey- 
eff. As an offset to his victories, he was forced to cede Livonia to 
the Swedes. So marked a mixture of good and evil as was this sov- 
ereign has seldom appeared in history. His temper was so violent, 
Ms cruelties were so excessive, that he might well have been called 
mad, and he was totally unscrupulous in many matters of morals. 
He ordered the city of i^'ovgorod destroyed, and its inhabitants 
butchered, in a fit of rage, on account of the discontent it had mani- 
fested against his despotic rule, so that from the most flourishing 
city and commercial mart of the ^^orth, it became an obscure village, 
above which it has never since risen. On the other hand, he deliv- 
ered Russia from the last traces of Tartar rule, made conquests over 
the Mohammedans, opened the country to foreign trade, introduced 
printing, instituted clerical reforms, assembled a Parliament, and 
drew up a code of laws, worthy to be well spoken of. Michael 
Romanoff, the founder of the present reigning dynasty, extended the 
Siberian conquests nearly to the Pacific, aud his son Alexis restored 
or annexed to the Empire, Tchernigov, Smolensk, Kiev, and the 
Ukraine. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF RUSSIA, 



57 



At the accession of Peter the Great in 1689, the Russian Empire 
had attained the dimensions of a gi'eat reahn, and presented a shape 
approaching that which it exhibits at the present time. Its Euro- 
pean possessions had been extended to the Caspian Sea and the Cau- 
casus Mountains, and it had acquired territory in Asia extending 
from the iiftieth degree of north latitude to the Arctic Ocean, and 
covering one hundred degrees of longitude. Peter devoted his at- 
tention principally to the development of the material resources and 
the improvement of the civilization of his country. The story of 
his journeys in Europe, and his working disguised in ship-yards, 
and inspecting the armaments and workshops of different nations, in 
order to become personally acquainted with the arts which had made 
them strong, and introduce them to his own conntry, has been told 
very often, and is known to every reader. To him, more than to 
any of his predecessors or all of them together, is due the w^onderful 
progress which Russia has made, and the position it has attamed 
among the nations. He added to the temtory of the Empire, In- 
gria, part of Karelia, Esthonia, and Livonia from Sweden, Dagh- 
estan and other territories on the Caspian Sea, from Persia, and the 
towns of Baku and Derbent. The Persian acquisitions were lost 
under Anna, 1730 to 1740, but in recompense she made the Kirghiz 
tributary, completed the incorporation of Siberia to Behring's Straits, 
and added the Aleutian Islands. Ehzabeth, 1741 to 17 62, gained some 
districts of Einland. At the close of her reign, the extreme western 
boundary of the Empire was the Baltic Sea, its extreme eastern 
point was near the coast of North America, and it stretched through 
more than one hundred and sixty degrees of longitude. Catherine 
the Great, whose reign from 1762 to 1796 was a long and splendid 
one of unprincipled conquest, added nearly two hundred and twenty- 
five thousand square miles of territory to the Empire, including the 
country of the Kirghiz, Courland, the Crimea, Azov, and Russian 
Poland, To this sovereign is ascribed the origin of the policy which 
has been imputed to Russia, of systematic aggression against Tui'key, 
for the sake of acquiring Constantinople, and estabhshing a new 
Christian Empire of the East. 

Alexander I., 1801 to 1825, was distinguished for his conspicuous 
participation in the wars against Napoleon, in the course of which 
tlie boundaries of the States of Europe were changed very often. 
Russia gained and lost, along with the rest of the States which were 
engaged in these wars, but permanently lost little. At the end of 



58 



777^ JVAJ^ IN THE EAST. 



the reign of Alexander, it had gained all the provinces of Georgia, 
the district of Bialystock, Finland, the Aland Islands, a part of 
Bothnia, and the peninsula of Alaska, in I^orth America. Alexan- 
der, with the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia, formed 
the Holy Alliance, under the operation of which the aspirations of 
the people for freedom, awakened by the career of ITapoleon, were 
trampled down, and the States of continental Eui'ope were placed 
and kept for a whole generation under the rule of petty sovereigns 
who were mostly foreign to them, and whom they hated, but were 
prevented by the powers of the Alliance from removing. 

The reign of Nicholas, 1825 to 1855, was severe and prosperous 
at the beginning, but ended in misfortune. Until the occurrence of 
the war in the Crimea, Russia shared with Austria the predominance 
in the councils of the European States, and was the object of anxious 
regard and dread on the part of the other great powers. The rule 
of this Czar was aggressive and domineering toward other nations, 
and intensely despotic toward his own people. He instituted the 
cruel policy which has resulted in crushing out entirely the nation- 
ality of Poland, and abolishing its separate administration. In pur- 
suance of this policy, he banished tens of thousands of Poles to 
Siberia, and gave the appearance of reality to the purpose he is said 
to have expressed of making a Siberia, that is a waste, of Poland, 
and a Poland, that is a well populated country, of Siberia. 'Not only 
were Poles sent to Siberia ; men from all parts of the Empire, ac- 
cused of every kind of offense, but chiefly of those of a political 
character, were consigned to that inhospitable region as to a prison, 
until the dread of being sent to this place of exile became a com- 
mon misery to all distinguished Russians. Nicholas co-operated 
with Austria in repressing the popular uprisings of 1818, and in en- 
deavoring to perpetuate the system of autocracy which had been 
imposed upon Europe by the Holy Alliance. He lent efficient aid 
in the cruel suppression of the Hungarian revolution, and to this is 
owing in part the present attitude of the Hungarians of unwaver- 
ing and intense hostility to every Russian interest and every friend 
of Russia, and their disposition to favor the Turks. Under this 
sovereign, Russia suffered the most disastrous defeats it has encoun- 
tered since its conquest by the Tartars, in the Crimean war, when 
Erance, England, and Sardinia assisted the Porte in repelling its at- 
tacks upon the Turkish sovereignty. Russia lost in this war a part 
of its teiTitory in Bessarabia and around the mouths of the Danube, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF RUSSIA. 



59 



and was obliged to submit to restrictions upon its privileges in the 
Black. Sea, to forego all its claims to the right to interfere in behalf 
of the Christian subjects of Turkey, and to see its predominance 
in the councils of Europe disappear, to be replaced first by that of 
France, later by that of Germany. It is worthy of remark that the 
efforts of Mcholas to repress the progress of popular development 
have all failed, and that the condition of Europe is, to-day, the reverse 
of wdiat he would have had it. Hungary is free and self -governed. 
Austria has suffered the introduction of popular institutions, and 
every State in Europe enjoys a constitutional government, except 
Eussia. The additions to Eussian power made by Nicholas were 
the gain of Erivan and E"akhitchevan, and of the exclusive con- 
trol of the Caspian Sea. 

The reign of the present Emperor Alexander II. has been one of 
the most prosperous and liberal in Russian history. Previous great 
Czars have sought chiefly the development of the material resources 
and the moral and physical strength of the State as a political unit. 
Alexander's policy has been aimed at the culture and the ameliora- 
tion of the condition of the people. The emancipation of the serfs 
is one of the noblest acts of humanity on record. Except for the 
wars with the Turkomans of Central Asia, which, like our wars with 
the Indians and the wars of the British in- India, have been rather 
wars of necessity than of conquest, his reign has been one of peac3, 
and under it the country has made great advances in the arts and 
sciences. It has been marred by continued cruelties in Poland, 
by the despotic efforts to repress the local languages of the prov- 
inces, and by religious persecutions, which seem to be still pursued 
as a part of the settled policy of the Imperial Administration to 
make the population of the Empire a imit in religion, language, and 
customs. The present reign has been distinguished also by the devel- 
opment of the Panslavic idea in the steady cultivation of the doctrine 
of the unity of the Slavic race, and by efforts to create a public 
opinion in all the Slavic States in and out of Pussia in favor of the 
separation of the people of that race from political associations with 
other races, and their organization into distinct States to be ruled or 
protected by Pussia. Alexander has added to the Pussian Enipire 
the territories of the Khanates of Central Asia, and the region of 
the Amoor Eiver in extreme Eastern Asia ; but has, on the other 
hand, ceded by sale to the United States the territory of Alaska in 
^North America. 



6o 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The following tables exhibit at a view the steady growth of Eussia 
in territory and population : 

English 
Squart Miles. 



In 1462 fhe Czardom of Muscovy contained about 382,700 

' In 1505 Russia contained about 510,300 

In 1584 " " 1,530,800 

In 1650 " " 5,038,800 

In 1689 " " 5,953,000 

In 1730 " " 6,888,500 

In 1775 " " 7,122,300 

In 1868 " " 7,866,500 

In 1877 " " 8,391,800 



The population of the Empire in 1722, when the first census was 
taken, was fourteen millions; in 1Y42 it was sixteen millions; in 
1Y62, nineteen millions; in 1782, twenty-eight millions; in 1796, 
thirty-six millions ; in 1812, forty-one millions ; in 1815, forty-five 
millions ; in 1835, sixty millions ; in 1851, sixty-eight millions ; in 
1858, seventy-seven millions ; in 1875, 86,486,000. 



RUSSIAN FEASANTS. 



CHAPTEE III. 



CONDITION OF RUSSIA. 

The Eaces of Russia— Backwardness of Civilization — Abolition of Serfdom — Public In- 
struction — Russia the only State in Europe without a Representative Form of Gov- 
ernment — The Policy of Russianization — Religious Intolerance — Agricultural Re- 
sources — Scarcity of Large Towns — The Village Commune — The Provincial Assem- 
bly—The Russian Church and the Dissenters— The Army, Navy, and Finances of 
Russia. 

The dominant popnlation in Russia is of the Slavic race. Four- 
fiftlis of the entire population of the Empire belong to this race, 
and it predominates in a large majority of the provincial govern- 
ments. To it belong the Great, Little, and White Russians, 
inhabiting Russia proper, and numbering fortj-nine millions, the 
Bulgarians, Servians, and other Slavic people living in different 
parts of the Empire, and the Slavs of Poland and Lithuania, Tvho 
number some seven millions. The Slavs are, for the most part, 
attached to the orthodox Greek Church, but the Poles are Roman 
Catholic. Next to the Slavs in importance and influence are the 
Finns-, nmnbering 3,038,000, and the Lithuanians, numbering 
2,343,000. Jews are found in the commercial centers, most largely 
ill Poland, to the number of 2,800,000, and Armenians and Greeks 
in the southern Asiatic and European parts of the Empire in lesser 
numbers. Russians form the predominant race in Siberia, but there 
are many Mongol tribes in that region, mostly Pagans or Buddhists 
in religion. The rest of Asiatic Russia, from the southern borders of 
Siberia down to the Persian frontier, is inhabited by the Mohamme- 
dan Tartars, Turkomans, and Caucasians, all more or less dissatisfied 
with Russian rule, but kept in subjection partly by interest, partly 
by force. The Slavs and Finns are loyal to the Empire, but the 
Poles and Mohammedans can not be relied upon. 

Russia, as well as Turkey, is behind the most advanced nations 
in civilization. Russia has only emerged from barbarism mthin the 
past two hundred years, and although it has within that period 
established several centers of the highest civilization, is still obliged' 
to see a large part of its rural population lingering in a state of 
primitive simplicity as to knowledge and the arts. The Russians 
4 (63) 



64 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



are of tlie same religion, the Christian, and the same great race, the 
Indo- Germanic, or Aryan, with the most advanced nations of the 
world, and may readily sympathize and co-operate with them in all 
general movements. Since the days of Peter the Great, they have 
striven to emulate other nations, and have thus been drawn into 
the atmosphere of civilization. Having risen by its vast strength 
to the rank of one of the Great Powers of the world, and to be 
associated on equal terms with the leaders of civilization, while it 
still remained far behind in cultm^e, Russia has felt itseK instinct- 
ively and peremptorily compelled to try to make itself equal in all 
respects to its neighbors. With this object it has made all possible 
efforts to promote the intellectual and social advancement of its 
people. Elders, the higher classes, and the people, have all joined 
in the efforts according to their capacity and degree of understand- 
ing of its object, and great progress has been made. Serfdom has 
been abolished, a great social reorganization has been undertaken, 
education has been promoted, and a hterature has been developed, 
respectable and voluminous enough to receive the attention and the 
praises of foreign critics. 

The abolition of serfdom was an event in the progi'ess of the Em- 
pire quite as important, and destined to have as influential a bearing 
on the civilization of the country as the abolition of slavery in the 
United States. It was effected by a decree of the Czar Alexander 
IT., issued on the 3d of March, 1S61, and was a measure carried out 
solely in the interest of civilization. It was applied to the whole 
Empu'e, and elevated to freedom twenty-two milhon serfs belong- 
ing to private owners, and a still larger number belonging to the 
cro^vn, making free in all 44,225,075 men and women, or more than 
one-half the population of the Empire, who had before been attached 
to the soil as a part of the real estate. Provision was made at the 
same time for the assignment of a portion of land to the emanci- 
pated serfs ; and in order that the great act might be accomplished 
without injustice, a plan was devised for the reimbursement of the 
former owners for their loss in estate. The serf was held to pay 
twenty per cent, of his capital value directly to the holder to whom 
he had been attached ; while the Government advanced the remain- 
ing eighty per cent, within five years, to be repaid by the freedman 
in forty-nine years. All of the arrangements for aboKtion were 
completed at the eud of July, 1865, when serfdom may be said to 
have technically ceased to exist in Russia. It appears, however, by 



CONDITION OF RUSSIA. 



65 



a repoi"t recently published in the Golos^ of St. Petersburg, tliat 
there are still two million serfs in the country whose emancipation 
has not been effected, either in consequence of the high price of the 
land or of their own unwillingness to accept the new state of things. 

The system of Public Instruction has been gradually developed, 
and although it is still imperfectly and insufficiently appKed, has 
been greatly improved within a f evv^ years. The schools are not all 
under one head of administration, as is the case in most other coun- 
tries ; but each ministry has a number of special schools under its 
own control, while some are conducted by the clergy, thus prevent- 
ing full unity in organization. Primary instruction is regulated by 
the law of 1874, which provided for the establishment and conduct 
of four classes of schools : primary schools under the direction of the 
clergy ; similar schools, both public and private, under the direction of 
the Minister of Public Instruction ; elementary schools, su.pported by 
the communes and under the control of other ministries ; and Sunday- 
schools. The usual elementary branches are taught in these schools, 
and the use of the Russian language is obligatory. District or circle 
schools are established in the center of every ch'cle for the children 
of the merchants, trades-people, and other inhabitants of the cities, 
in which some degree of academic instruction is afforded, and teach- 
ers' institutes have been established in connection with them. The 
Empire — except Finland, which has its own administration; the 
Caucasus, which is administered by its Governor ; and Central Asia 
— is divided for school purposes into nine districts, in which the pro- 
vision of schools and the attendance are very unequal. The average 
of the whole is about one school for every 3,100, and one pupil for 
every eighty inhabitants. Secondary instruction is afforded in 455 
gymnasia of various grades and under different administrations, 
which were attended in 18Y7 by 87,775 pupils ; and instruction in 
special branches is furnished by upward of three hundred theologi- 
cal, military, naval, technical, and other schools. The eight univer- 
sities had in 1875 five hundred and sixty-nine instructors and 6,408 
students. A beginning has been made for introducing compulsory 
education at St. Petersburg. 

The Press is held under a strict censorship, the direction of which 
is in the office of the Minister of the Interior, with special censor- 
commissions or single censors in the principal cities. Under the 
rules of this office the publication is forbidden of articles against the 
dogmas of the orthodox Church, against the form of government or 



66 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



tlie person of the Czar or any member of his family, and of slanders 
npon any private person. The publication of any information con- 
cerning the Imperial family is forbidden nntil permission has been 
granted. The censorship applies to books and music as ^ell as to 
newspapers. Of late years the severity of the censorship has under- 
gone a practical relaxation, so that journals have been allowed con- 
siderable freedom in the discussion of political and social topics, so 
long as they do not criticise the pet schemes of the Government. 
The Press laws have been enforced with constant rigor against the 
papers in the Baltic provinces and Poland, which have spoken too 
freely against the Pussianizing measures of the Government ; and 
several papers in different parts of the Empire were suspended in 
1875 for their indiscreet utterances. In the year 1873, 409 periodi- 
cals were published in Pussia, of which twenty-two received a sup- 
port from the Government. Literary activity has only recently been 
largely developed in Pussia. It has, however, abeady become quite 
vigorous; books are rapidly multiplying, and a high standard of 
merit has been reached, insuring to Pussian works favorable atten- 
tion in the most cultivated literary cii'cles. The most prominent 
works are of fiction, which have a marked, distinctive character, of 
science, and of Oriental philology, in which Pussian scholarship has 
made a very creditable mark. 

In point of political administration and religious liberty, Pussia is 
behind every other civihzed nation. Alone among the important 
European States, it has not yet attained a representative govern- 
ment. The Czar exercises the authority as well as bears the title of 
an autocrat, and governs the Empire through boards of his own ap- 
pointment, which carry out his will. It has been the policy of the 
Government to allow conquered or annexed provinces to preserve 
for a time their old institutions. The Grand Duchy of Finland 
keeps its ancient Constitution, reserved to it by a special grant. In 
other conquered provinces, administrative independence has been 
gradually taken away. Thus Poland had a separate Government till 
1864, when it was placed under the rule of a Council of State, and 
is now, under a new regulation, governed directly from St. Peters- 
burg. A beginning was made several years ago, for the organization 
of Provincial Legislatures, but they have never attained any real 
efficiency. The Empire is divided into General Governments, or 
viceroyalties, governments, and districts, besides a number of prov- 
inces which, on account of the thinness of their population, have not 



CONDITION OF RUSSIA. 



67 



been organized into regular governments. The Governors-General, 
or Yicerojs, are appointed by the Emperor, and represent him, and 
have supreme control of all affairs, and the direction of all nnder- 
officers. Even the judgments of the courts are subject to their revi- 
sion. Each general governor has to assist him a civil governor and 
council, who, however, have no independent functions. Only in 
local parish and district affairs has any one but the Czar authority. 
Here, for a paradox, we have popular government in its simplest and 
purest form. The whole country is divided into communities v^'hich 
are called Ji^V, and these are formed into Valosti, or districts of 
about two thousand inhabitants each. The communes and districts 
elect their own officers and assemblies, which discuss and decide all 
questions relating to such affairs as the division of the field, the 
arrangement of tenancies, the distribution of taxes, accounts, recruit- 
ing, the admission of new members, complaints to the Czar, and the 
like. The communal assembhes meet three times a year. The ]3eo- 
ple of the villages also choose tribunals which have jurisdiction of 
small offenses and disputes relating to property below a certain 
amount. 

Some of the most remarkable manifestations of Russian ideas and 
policy have been seen in the measm'es of the Government for the 
Russianization of the non-Russian people, in political system, relig- 
ion, and language. The gradual abolition of the institutions of Po- 
land has been mentioned. A similar process has been adopted in 
other parts of the Empire. Great stress has been laid upon securing 
the universal use of the Russian language. Compulsion has been 
employed to make it the language of the schools and the Church, 
and to banish other languages from the books and the newspapers. 
The idea of making a single languago current, and generally under- 
stood throughout the Empire, is in accordance with a general ten- 
dency of our times ; but to resort to force, and infringe upon domes- 
tic rights, as has been done in Poland and the Baltic provinces, is 
certainly not consistent with even a moderate degree of civilization. 
It may be a benefit to confer upon the barbarous tribes of the East 
a language of civilization and literature, but the attempt to force it 
upon an unwilling people, already in possession of such cultured 
languages as the Pohsh and German, is reprehensible. 

Both Russia and Turkey are countries of vast natural resources, 
which are as yet almost wholly undeveloped. Agriculture is the 
leading pursuit in either Empire. In Russia it must always be the 



68 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



main reliance of the mass of the population ; and in comparison with 
the extent of agricnltiiral development which the land is destined to 
receive, other industries will be of less importance. The capabilities 
of the land of Kussia for agriculture are, however, bj no means com- 
^mensnrate with the extent of the territory. A large part of the soil 
must be forever nntillable. The northem slope, extending from the 
Ural-Baltic table-land to the Arctic Ocean, lies under a climate which 
imposes rigorous limits upon the amount and variety of production ; 
a large part of it is occupied by swamps, or the tundras^ and the ex- 
treme northern border is frozen dnring nearly the whole year. The 
middle zone, between the Ural-Baltic and the Ural-Carpathian table- 
lands, is occupied in the western part by extensive forests of fir and 
large tracts of fodder grass, but in the east contains great swamps. 
The soil of this district is very fertile, and capable of productive cul- 
tivation. Much of Asiatic Russia, as in the steppes of Turkistan and 
the Caspian, is desert, chilled by Arctic winds during most of the year, 
and scorched by a burning sun during the rest. In Southern Bussia 
lie the great wheat-fields which have made this Empire the third 
principal grain-producing nation on the earth, only the United States 
and France exceeding it in production."^ 

Besides wheat, the leading agricultural products of Bussia are 
rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, and millet, which are consumed in the 
country, and hemp and flax, which form considerable items in the 
export trade. The cultivation of the sugar-beet, and the manufac- 
ture of beet sugar, make a considerable figure in the table of pro- 
ductions. Tobacco, Indian- com, and vines in the Crimea and 
Bessarabia, and along the river Don, and garden products form 



* The amourt of grain production of the three States we have named, •vyas, according 
to the reports published by the English Board of Trade at the beginning of 1877 : For 
the United States, 1874, 308,000,000 bushels ; for France, 1873, 230,000,000 bushels ; and 
for Russia, 1872, 158,000,000 bushels. The grain trade of Eussia, however, does not seem 
to be increasing, but rather diminisliing, under the pressure of competition from the 
United States, Canada, South America, and India. A few years ago, Eugland drew from 
Russia a far larger supply of grain than from any other country. Suddenly, in 1874, ac- 
cording to a statement made in England, the exports of the United States made a great 
bound forward, and every year since, they have more and more exceeded the Russian, 
until in the agricultural year ending with the harvest of 1876, the United States and Can- 
ada sent to England nearly one-half its whole foreign imports, while Russia sent it only 
one-seventh. "In fact," it is stated, "while the Russian imports have fallen one-third, 
American have trebled since 1872." The cultivation of wheat is very imperfect in Russia, 
as the same retunis from which we have quoted state that the average crop is only five 
and a half bushels, while in the United States it is twelve and one-half bushels, to the 
acre. The chief point of export for Russian wheat is at Odessa, on the Black Sea. 



CONDI TIO.V OF RUSSIA. 



69 



smaller, but by no means unimportant items. The wooded districts 
give large supplies of timber— hrs in the Korth ; oaks, limes, ashes, 
and maples in the South, which are floated down the rivers to the 
more scantily-timbered districts. 

The grass-covered plains afford excellent facilities for raising live- 
stock. Horses are abundant and of excellent quality, good animals 
for general service being obtained from the Cossacks, Kalmucks, and 
Kirghiz, strong and hardy horses from Yiatka, Kazan, and Finland, 
while a more highly-bred class are raised in the breeding-stables 
encouraged by the Government. A census report records the num- 
ber of horses in the whole Empire at about eighteen million head. 
Of other live-stock, Eussia contains about twenty-one million head 
of cattle, forty-five milhon sheep, and nine million pigs. 

The Government has taken pains to encourage manufacturing in- 
dustry, and has gained a good measure of success. The more im- 
portant manufactures are those of textile fabrics of wool, linen, 
hemp, and cotton, and of leather. Many minerals and metals are 
found in the country, and a large industry is employed in the min- 
ing and manufacture of coal, coal- oil, iron, copper, bronze, zinc, and 
other metal and metallic products in smaller quantities. The Govern- 
ment endeavors to foster the industries and encouras-e the production 
of the country in every way, but the high rates of taxation which 
other exigencies demand are a great drawback to enterprise. 

The great rivers are valuable aids to commerce. To them the 
Government has added a system of railroads, of which 12,9io miles 
had been constracted on the 1st of January, 1877, and about 1,324: 
miles more were under way. The length of telegraph lines on the 
1st of January, 1876, was 58,675 miles, and the number of. post- 
offices was 3,415. Foreign commerce and the coasting trade are 
carried on by a fleet of twenty-five hundred and twelve sea-going 
vessels, and the rivers of the Empire bear three hundred and eighty- 
five steamers. A peculiar feature in the distribution of. population 
is the small number of large towns. In the wdiole ol European 
Eussia proper — this term excluding Finland, the Baltic provinces, 
Lithuania, Poland, and the Caucasus, which are countries- annexed 
and not socially Eussian — there are only one hundred and twenty- 
seven towns of more than ten thousand, twenty-five of more than 
25,000, and eleven of more than 50,000 inhabitants ; and only one- 
tenth part of the entire population are dwellers in towns, while in 
England more than one-half the inhabitants live in towns. 



70 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The pecnliar feature of the Eussian social organization is the 
Village Commune, or Mir. This institution has primarily to do 
with the allotment of the land among the inhabitants who are en- 
titled to share in its nse, but its functions have been extended to 
embrace nearly all the concerns of the local life. The lands of the 
Commune are held in common bj all of its inhabitants, each family 
of whom has a fixed, inalienable right to a home and its proportion- 
ate share of the privilege of tillage and pastm-age. If the amount 
of land is more than sufficient for the wants of the village, as is the 
case in many communes, these rights are practically unlimited. If 
there is no excess of land, the rights of each family are defined, 
and whoever wishes to enjoy more than his share, must pay for the 
privilege. Besides superintending the division of the land, the 
Commune is charged with the duty of assessing the taxes and trans- 
mitting the moneys received from this source to the Central Bureau. 
Each Commune is charged with an amount of taxes proportioned to 
the number of its male inhabitants as they appear in the official 
lists, and in its turn distributes the charge among the persons en- 
titled to $hare in the communal pri^dleges. The lists for the whole 
Empire are revised at ii-regular intervals, when the Commune makes 
a new division of the lands and a new assessment of the taxes. As 
impoiiant changes may often take place in the relations of the 
families between the periods of revision, which have averaged fif- 
teen years, the Communal Assemblies are sometimes called upon at 
shorter periods to make adjustments of distribution in favor of 
equity, and each Commune does this in its own way. The affairs of 
the Commune are administered by the Yillage Assembly, of which 
all the heads of households are members. The authority of this 
body having never been legally defined, has become extended so as 
to cover nearly all the details of the village life and some personal 
matters. According to Mr. D. Mackenzie "Wallace, in his " Eussia," 
" It fixes the time for making the hay, and the day for commencing 
the plowing of the fallow- field ; it decrees what measures shall bo 
employed against those who do not punctually pay their taxes ; it 
decides whether a new member shall be admitted into the Com- 
mune, and whether an old member shall be allowed to change his 
domicile ; it gives or withholds permission to erect new buildings 
on the Communal land ; it prepares and signs all contracts which 
the Commune makes with one of its own members or with a stran- 
ger ; it interferes, whenever it thinks necessary, in the domestic 



A COSSACK. 



CONDITION OF RUSSIA. 



73 



affairs of its members." It elects tlie village officers, and allots the 
lands. In illustration of its authority in matters more particularly 
personal, Mr. Wallace says : " If a peasant becomes a drunkard, 
or takes some equally efficient means to become insolvent, every 
family in the village has a right to complain, not merely in the in- 
terests of public morality, but from selfish motives, because all the 
families are collectively responsible for his taxes. For the same 
reason, no peasant can permanently leave the village without the 
consent of the Commune, and this consent will not be granted until 
the applicant gives satisfactory security for the fulfillment of all his 
actual and future liabilities. If a peasant wishes to go away for a 
short time, in order to work elsewhere, he must obtain a written 
permission, which serves him as a passport during his absence ; and 
he may be recalled at any moment by a Communal decree. In 
reality he is rarely recalled so long as he sends home regularly the 
full amount of his taxes." 

The Commune is supplemented by the Zemstvo, or District 
Assembly, a body which was created about ten years ago by an 
Imperial Ukase, to have the charge of those public wants which 
it is beyond the reach of the Communal Assembly to provide for. 
It has the care of the repairs of the roads and bridges, of the pro- 
vision of means of conveyance for public officers, of educational 
and sanitary affairs, looks after the condition of the crops, provides 
against the danger of scarcity, etc. It consists of an assembly of 
deputies, who are elected every three years by the landed proprie- 
tors, communes, and municipal corporations, and which meets every 
year, and of a permanent executive bureau elected by the assembly 
from among its members. loobies and peasants are chosen to this 
body, and meet in it on a footing of equality, and without apparent 
antagonism; the nobles, however, being the more conspicuous on 
account of their superior education and experience. The Provincial 
Assembly is a body whose members are chosen by the several dis- 
trict assemblies of the province, to take cognizance of those matters 
which concern more than one district. 

These bodies are denied all political functions, so much so that, 
according to Wallace, the Government, very soon after it created 
them, " showed that it would not allow the assemblies to exert even 
a moral pressure by means of petitions and political agitation. As 
soon as the Zemstvo of St. Petersburg gave evidence of a desire to 
play a political part, the assembly was at once closed by Imperial 



74 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



command, and several of the leading members were banished for a 
time from the capital." 

The Russian Church is a branch of the Oriental Greek Church, 
and is in communion with the four Patriarchates of Constantinople, 
Antioch, J erusalem, and Alexandria. Its concerns were formerly 
regulated, like those of the other Eastern Churches, by a Patriarch, 
who resided at Moscoay. The Patriarchate was allowed to die out in 
the reign of Peter the Great, and its place was supphed by an 
ecclesiastical council or synod, whose members were appointed by 
the Emperor. This body, the "Holy Synod," is the nominal 
governing body of the Church. It is a permanent college, or 
senate, of prominent dignitaries of the Church, who are nominated 
by the Czar, and are removable at his pleasure. Its acts are sub- 
ject to the revision of the Czar, and take effect, when they are 
promulgated, as acts of the Government, rather than of the Church. 
The Czar appoints to every office in the Church, leaving to the 
bishops and prelates only the privilege of proposing candidates. 
He does not, however, assume to decide theological or dogmatic 
questions, but allows the synod to exercise its full discretion on 
such points. The duty of deciding and j)assing judgment in case 
of new heresies, likewise rests with the synod, but the judgment 
having been given, the Czar must command its execution before it 
can be carried into effect. If the questions at issue are critical, the 
opinions of the four patriarchs are sought, and in extreme cases a 
council may be called, the final result being, however, in every case 
dependent on the Czar to give it force. Each province, or govern- 
ment, forms a diocese administered by the bishop, assisted by a 
council, which, like the Holy Synod, has no independent authority, 
but simply represents the bishop. The ecclesiastical administration 
is in the hands of the "Black Clergy," or monks, while the parish 
priests, or "White Clergy," a poor, uneducated, little considered 
class, do most of the hard work, but do not share in the higher 
honors of the Church. 

The Paskolnik, Dissenters, or ^Nonconformists, form a large body. 
They were separated from the Church in the latter part of the 
seventeenth century. Believing that the Church was departing 
from the primitive faith and introducing innovations in doctrine, 
the first ^Nonconformists refused to follow it, and assumed an atti- 
tude of protest against the innovations. They were excommuni- 
cated and subjected to persecutions, which continued till they were 



CONDITION OF RUSSIA. 



75 



relaxed by Catherine the Great, since whose time they have been 
tolerated. They have been di\'ided on the question of the recog- 
nition of the Old Church lis a true Church, into " Old Ritualists" 
and Bezpopoftsi, or Priestless people." The Old Eitualists accept 
their episcopal and priestly succession from the Old Church, but the 
" Priestless people," believing that that Church has destroyed itself 
by its departure from the faith, and has lost all authority, refuse 
to accept the sacraments and other rites, on the ground that there 
is no longer any priesthood. They have been split into a great 
variety of sects. 

The Old Ritualists are not really very far removed from the 
orthodox Church, differing only in a few particulars of doctrine, 
which are regarded, now that the heat of controversy has passed, 
as of minor importance. The Government has adopted a policy of 
conciliatory measures to induce them to return, having among other 
things offered them special churches in which they could indulge 
their particular preferences of ritual, on condition of accepting the 
regularly consecrated priests, and submitting to ecclesiastical juris- 
diction, but has not met with much success. The "Priestless 
people" were treated with severity until the accession of the 
present Czar. He has adopted toward them a milder policy, under 
the influence of which they have become less fanatical and exclusive, 
but show no signs of returning to the State Church. 

There are also in Russia numerous sects called heretical. Two of 
them, the Molokans and the Stundists, seem to be allied in faith to 
some of the evangelical bodies of Protestantism, the Molokans being 
likened by Wallace to the Presbyterians, while the Stundists are 
generally spoken of as the Russian representatives of the Baptists. 
Besides these there are a variety of sects, professing all shades of 
doctrine, from those which accept the Scriptures as the basis of be- 
lief and the inspiration of their leading members as authentic means 
of interpreting them, to those which regard nervous excitement as a 
manifestation of religion, and practice rites which do not admit of 
description. Little is really known concerning many of these sects. 
The accounts of them which have reached the public have been gen- 
erally furnished by strangers or persons prejudiced against them, 
who are not above exaggerating their more offensive peculiarities. 
They have been for many years under the observation of the police, 
and the Government has at times instituted severe measures to sup- 
press them. 



76 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Tlie Old Ritualists and Priestless people are estimated to number 
about seven millions of adherents ; and the Molokans, Stundists, and 
"fantastical sects" about three millions more. "If these numbers 
be correct," says Wallace, " the sectarians constitute about an eighth 
of the whole population of the Empire. They count in their ranks 
none of the nobles, none of the so-called enlightened class ; but they 
include in their number the third and wealthiest part of the mer- 
chant class, the majority of the Don Cossacks, and all of the Cos- 
sacks of the Ural ! " According to the official statistics of the Rus- 
sian Government, the aggregate number of all sectarians is only 
about 1,200,000, an estimate which nearly all foreign writers on Rus- 
sia agree in considering as too low. The Roman Cathohc Church 
has in the Russian Empire a population of about seven and a half 
millions, who live almost exclusively in the provinces formerly be- 
longing to Poland, and belong almost wholly to the Polish and 
Lithuanian nationalities. There were formerly in these provinces 
several millions of Uniats, or members of the Greek Church, who 
had united with Rome, but had been permitted to retain some rites 
and disciplinary laws of the Greek Church. These Uniats have been 
induced by the Russian Government to rescind their connection 
with Rome, and to re-unite with the Russian Church. The last 
remnant, the diocese of Chelm, in the kingdom of Poland, took this 
step in 1876 and 1877. Protestantism is the dominant religion in 
Finland, in the Baltic provinces, and the German settlements which 
are scattered through the south of Russia. The entire population 
connected with it is about 2,600,000, exclusive of the Grand Duchy 
of Finland, which is also almost wholly Protestant. The Jews are 
very numerous, especially in the provinces formerly belonging to 
Poland ; they number about 2,800,000. The number of Moham- 
medans has been greatly increased by the enlargement of the Rus- 
sian rule in Central Asia, where the bulk of the population belongs 
to the Islam ; their total number in Russia now exceeds 7,000,000. 
The number of Pagans has been reduced to about 500,000, and con- 
tinues to decrease. Excepting the case of the Uniats which has just 
been referred to, the Russian Church has made but little progress 
among Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and Mohammedans, but an in- 
creasing number of the members of these religions are entering the 
service of the I^ational Government, an indication that the national 
unification of the Empire is making more rapid progress than the 
religious. Russia is frequently charged with being extremely intol- 



CONDITION OF RUSSIA. 



77 



erant in matters of religion. It is said that the State Government 
regards it as a crime to apostatize from the Greek Church to any 
other, and that any one who has once joined the Greek Church is 
not allowed to leave it again. The policy of the Russian Govern- 
ment with regard to the Baptists, which has often been mentioned 
in the religious journals of the United States, attracted the attention 
of the Evangelical Alliance, and caused a deputation from this body 
to be sent to St. Petersburg. The emigration of the Mennonites of 
Southern Russia to the United States was occasioned by a viola- 
tion of their conscientious scruples by Russian laws, and the non- 
fulfillment of the pledges of the Government to respect them. With 
regard to these and other charges of intolerance, it must, however, 
be mentioned that some of them are declared by prominent Russians 
to be absolutely false, and that most of the Russian writers, includ- 
ing representative men of the Russian Church,"^ declare in favor of 
the principle of rehgious toleration. 

The Russian armies are recruited in accordance with the military 
law of 18Y1, by an annual conscription, to which all able-bodied men 
of twenty-one years old and over are Hable. Substitutes are not 
allowed, but special facilities are afforded to young men who have 
gained a certain degree of education, to become officers or pass over 
to the reserve. The period of service is fifteen years, six of which 
are spent in the active army and six in the reserve. All able-bodied 
men are liable to be called out in time of war to serve in the militia. 
In 1877, the Russian army was computed to number 28,645 officers, 
662,073 combatants, and 97,380 non-combatants on a peace foot- 
ing, and 44,891: officers, 1,626,780 combatants, and 169,080 non- 
combatants on a war footing. Besides its regular force, the Gov- 
ernment commands a large supply of irregular troops, the most im- 
portant of which are the Cossacks, who own their land in common, 
and are exempt from taxes, but are bound to perfomi military serv- 
ice, in lieu of the liability to taxation. They serve fifteen years in 
the active army and seven years in the reserve. The total number 
of irregular troops on a peace footing is 1,740 officers, 33,827 com- 
batants, and 1,512 non-combatants. On a war footing there are 
3,505 officers, 131,290 combatants, and 5,698 non-combatants. 

* A defense of the Russian Church against the char2:e of intolerance, by a Russian 
writer, is given in the New Torli Churcliman, April 7, 1S77. This writer, in particular, 
denies that real punishment has ever been inflicted upon persons who left the State 
Church, and that the right of propagating religious doctrines is exclusively possessed by 
the State Church. 



78 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The administration of the army is lodged with the War Minister, 
who is responsible only to the Czar. Its organization is complete, 
its equipment good, and its discipline efficient. Military institutes 
of different grades are provided for the instruction of the officers, 
as preparatory, middle, and higher schools, and special schools for 
the instruction of under-officers. 

The military affairs of Finland are administered on a separate 
system from those of Russia. The province is expected to furnish 
a certain number of men on the demand of the Emperor as Grand 
Dnke of Finland. 

The Eussian navy consisted in 18T6 of the Baltic fleet, Y7 vessels ; 
the Black Sea fleet, nine vessels ; the Caspian Sea fleet, eleven 
serviceable vessels; the Siberian fleet, eleven vessels; the "White 
Sea squadron, three vessels ; and the Sea of Aral flotilla, twenty-six 
serviceable vessels. These vessels are manned by about 1,490 
officers and 11,600 seamen. The iron-clad fleet consisted of 29 ves- 
sels, having a total tonnage of 74,793 tons, carrying 184 guns. The 
most poY/erful of the iron-clads is the Peter the Great," a mastless 
turret-ship carrying four 35-ton Krupp guns. A fleet of vessels of 
a new kind, called Popoffkas, or circular monitors, is in process of 
construction after designs by Admiral Popoff. They are intended 
for defense, as floating fortresses, and will not have a speed of more 
than eight or nine miles an hour. The sailors of the navy are en- 
listed for nine years, seven of which must be spent in active service 
and two in the reserve. 

The finances of the Empire are in a wretched condition. The 
aggressive policy of Russia involving the necessity of maintaining a 
large standing army and navy, has proved to be an expensive one. 
Most of the railroads have been constructed by the Government 
through regions in which the commercial traffic would not begin to pay 
for the expense, and the system has required the borrowing of large 
sums of money. Two-thirds of the expenditure of the Empire, or 
about the whole amount of the revenue from direct and indu-ect 
taxation, is applied to the army and navy, and the payment of the 
interest on the public debt. According to the budget estimates, 
the amount of the revenues for 1876 was £81,448,320; and of 
expenditures £79,443,630, showing a small balance on the credit 
side of the account. Between 1822 and 1876, the Government 
borrowed upward of one hundred and thirty-five million pounds 
sterling to meet deficits in the annual accounts and provide capi- 



CONDITION OF RUSSIA. 



79 



tal for the constrnction of railroads ; and the esthnated amount 
of the public debt of the Empire on the first of January, 1876, was 
£250,962,000, or upward of twelve hundred million dollars. Be- 
sides this, the country had a legal-tender currency of £113,044,783, 
standing at from ten to fifteen per cent, discount. A suiting fund 
has been formed, and the financial condition has been improving for 
several years. But every war imposes new and difficult burdens 
upon the financial bureau; and it is evident that Bussia could 
not endure a great long war without suJffering a critical strain on 
its credit. 

A few of the provinces and peoples of Kussia have been brought 
into especial notice in connection with the war, and deserve a more 
particular account. 

The Cossacks have received more attention from travelers than 
any other class of Bussians, and are more often mentioned, since 
they make themselves more conspicuous in the campaign and in 
battle than any other Bussian soldiers. The name Cossack is said 
to be Turkish in origin, and to signify robber. However true the 
application may have been in the beginning, the Cossacks are now 
rather brave, daring soldiers, and accomplished and effective scouts 
than robbers, although even now no legitimate booty ever comes 
amiss to them. The Cossacks were a number of free tribes who 
inhabited the country of the Ukraine and the valleys of the 
Dnieper, Don, Yolga, and Ural Bivers, who were able to preserve 
a measure of independence during the period when Bussia and 
Poland and Turkey were contending for dominion over the region, 
and who, when they submitted to the Bussians, were peiTuitted to 
preserve most of their customs and privileges, on condition of their 
serving in the Bussian armies. They are allied to the Bussians 
and Tartars in origin, and are most probably the descendants of 
refugees who fled from Bussia during the tweKth and succeeding 
centuries, to escape the oppression of the landed lords, and of those 
who were afterward driven away by the cruelties of Ivan the 
Terrible (1533 to 1584). Communities were formed of the fugi- 
tives, of which one of the chief bonds of connection was that all 
the members, of whatever tribe they might be, should profess the 
orthodox religion and speak the Bussian language. In the latter 
part of the sixteenth century, the Cossack bands on the Don formed 
a union for the defense of the Christians against the Turks and 
Tartars, and built a number of rallying stations or winter camps 



8o 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



along the Don, which are now represented in the peculiar Cossack 
villages of that region. Colonies of Cossacks have been established 
by the Kussian Government for purposes of settlement and defense 
in the Ural, and parts of the Caucasus, and in Central Asia, where 
they prove useful pioneers of civilization, and good agents for the 
preservation of order as against the imruly native populations and 
predatory bands. They have language and religion in common 
with the Russians, but are quite different from them in customs, 
manner of life, and character. Though professing Christianity, 
they are not at all particular in rehgious matters. The Cossacks of 
the Upper Don pursue agricultural occupations ; their houses are 
surrounded by fruit gardens, and their women take delight in the 
cultivation of flowers. The whitewashed houses of their villages, 
just visible through the trees, present a very attractive appearance. 
The interior of the houses corresponds with the outside, and is 
scrupulously clean, and contains comforts and conveniences in pro- 
portion to the wealth of the owner. The Cossacks of the Lower 
Don live by fishing, raising horses, mining for salt, metals, and 
coal, and vine-culture. They are gayer and more extravagant than 
their northern countrymen, and are fond of display. As a whole, 
the Cossacks are free, roving in disposition, fond of wild adventure, 
are quick in movement, and fight with great vigor, but without 
much regularity or system. As soldiers, they form to the Russian 
service some such an arm as the Bashi-Bazouks form to the Turkish 
service, but a comparison with the Bashi-Bazouks is unjust to them ; 
they are better disciplined than the Bashi-Bazouks, have principle, 
and are not naturally cruel. When not in fight they are genial and 
pleasant companions, and are well spoken of by travelers who have 
had intercourse with them. Mr. Bryce, an* English traveler who 
recently ascended Mount Ararat, and who was accompanied by 
Cossacks during his whole journey, describes them as "merry, 
simple, good-natured fellows.'' His verdict is sustained by the 
majority of the travelers who have had intercourse with them away 
from the battle-field. In home life they are jovial, and exceedingly 
fond of their families, and will play with their children for hom-s 
with an enjoyment equal to that of the children. The uniform of 
the Cossack soldier is very picturesque. The upper garment con- 
sists of the Circassian tunic, or ohekynen^ fastened down the breast 
with frogs, with cartridge-cases on the right and left. Beneath this 
is the lechmet^ a kind of long waistcoat, reaching down below the 




COSSACKS. 




RUSSIAN 



SOLDIERS. 



CONDITION OF RUSSIA. 



tunic, and which is of silk when the Cossack is in full dress. The 
head-dress is the pajpalcka^ a cap made of sheepskin. The several 
regiments are distinguished from one another by the color of the 
hechmet and shoulder-straps, the top of the papahha and the colors 
of the cartridge-cases being also of the same hue. To protect him 
from the rain the Cossack carries a large mantle, called a hour'ka^ 
made of a peculiar kind of cloth manufactured in the mountains, 
which is said to be light, warm, impervious to moisture, and ever- 
lasting in wear. By night this hourka, which possesses also the 
invaluable property of driving away all insects and vermin, serves 
as a bed, and when not iu use is rolled up and strapped on behind 
the saddle. The 'bochlih, a cap made of the same kind of cloth, is 
the complement of the lourha, and is provided with two long tails, 
which when it rains the Cossack twists round his neck. In bivouac 
also the locMilc is worn as a night-cap. The arms carried by the 
Cossacks are the sohacKka, or long mountain sword, with no guard 
to the hilt ; the Mndial, or short dagger, two pistols stuck into a 
waist-belt, and a Berdan rifle without a bayonet. The horse furni- 
ture consists of a light saddle, somewhat resembling in appearance 
the Arabian pattern, but without the high wooden cant peculiar to 
this latter. The framework is covered with a skin of soft and ex- 
ceedingly supple leather ; the two girths are broad but thin leather 
bands, each about nine inches in width, and are attached to the 
saddle at a considerable interval apart. A thick woolen rug is 
placed below the saddle, while, finally, a leather cushion, stuffed 
with horse-hair, secured on the top of the saddle by a third girtli 
similar to the two already described, fonns the seat for the rider. 
The bridle has only a single rein, the horse moving generally with 
his head down and his neck stretched straight out. The horses 
themselves are small, usually about fourteen hands in height, but 
they are well-proportioned, robust, and able to get thi-ough much 
hard work without knocking up. 

The province called Bessarabia includes the country lying between 
the Pruth and Dniester Kivers. It is named after a tribe called the 
Bessers, who invaded it in the seventh century. It formerly be- 
longed to Moldavia, but was given to Russia in 1812. So much of 
the territory as included the mouths of the Danube was given back 
to Turkey by the Treaty of Paris, in 1856, the powers insisting that 
Eussia should surrender the control of every part of that important 
stream. Three-quarters of the population are Moldavians, or 
5 



84 



THE V/AR IN THE EAST. 



Erimanians, and are naturally inclined to favor incorporation -^ith 
Enmania whenever it is made an independent State. On tlie otlier 
hand, Eussia has never been satisfied Tvith its surrender of the south- 
western section, and claims the right to restore it to the territoiy of 
the Empire. 

The name of the Caucasus is given to the whole region between 
the Black and Caspian Seas, which is occupied by the Caucasus 
Mountains and their outlying spurs. The Caucasus range of mount- 
ains begins on the north shore of the Black Sea, and stretches in a 
south-westerly dhection for about seven hundred miles. It is divided, 
according to Mr. Douglas Freshfield, who has carefully examined its 
geography, near Tiflis into two branches, so as to give the whole 
range the shape of the letter Y, the two aiTQS of which stretch from 
the point of division to the Caspian Sea. The southern branch is 
the longest and highest; but the northern branch has also some 
very high peaks, and marks the boundaiy line between the two 
divisions of the province, Ciscaucasia and Transcaucasia. It is a 
region of very ancient historical, and more ancient mythological, 
intei-est. The Prometheus of the old Greek fables was chained to 
a rock on one of its mountains ; Medea, whose fate in connection 
with the expedition of Jason for the golden fleece has been com- 
memorated in classical tragedy, had her home within its bounds. 
It figm-es also as a land of enchantment in the stories of the '-Ara- 
bian Nights " and other legends of the Saracens. Its tribes, men of 
great vigor, having an indomitable spirit, maintained their inde- 
pendence against all attempts to conquer them tiU. the present cen- 
tury, when Eussia, having obtained a foothold in Georgia, in the 
year 1800, gradually extended its control until the whole region was 
subjugated on the surrender of Shamyl in 1859. The spirit of the 
inhabitants was not subdaed, however, and after 1863 nearly half a 
milhon of them, refusing to submit to Eussian rule, left the country 
and settled upon homesteads which were offered to them by their 
co-rehgionists in Turkey. Again in the war of 1877, the independ- 
ent spirit of the Mohammedan tribes, supported by such helps and 
encouragement as the Turks found opportunity to afford them, kept 
the country in so restless a condition that, although no formidable 
insurrection was actually developed, considerable forces had to be 
detailed from the Eussian armies to keep order, and the movements 
of the invading columns were embarrassed by the apprehension of 
danger in the rear. The Caucasian district is inhabited by several 



CONDITION OF RUSSIA. 



B5 



tribes, Mohammedan, Christian, and Pagan, of whom the Moham- 
medans have been so reduced bj emigration and other causes, as to 
number now only about one- third of the whole. The majority of 
the population have learned to be contented under Russian rule, 
and are loyal to the Government. Even the Mohammedans, until 
excited by the events of the war and the appeals of the Turks, had 
not for many years shown any spirit of resistance. Ciscaucasia, or 
the country lying on the northern side of the Caucasus, is inhabited 
by the Tchetchentzes, Ossetes, and Tcherkess, or Circassians. The 
Tchetchentzes, a Mohammedan tribe, numbering about 150,000 
persons, dwell in the Terek Yalley, and between the Caspian and 
Yladikavkar, and are considered the tribe the least to be relied 
upon. They were the last of the Caucasians to submit to the Rus- 
sians, having adhered to Shamyl during the war of final conquest 
till he was compelled to surrender. Their tribes are not connected 
by any bond of union, and they are given by travelers a bad char- 
acter, being described as untrustworthy and mischievous, though 
daring, given to irregular and guerrilla warfare, and incapable of 
maintaining a steady campaign. The Ossetes, who dwell west of the 
Tchetchentzes, and inhabit the country around the Pass of Yladi- 
kavkar, are a tribe of 65,000 persons, of whom 50,000 are nominally 
Christians, of a quite opposite character from their neighbors. They 
are regarded by many ethnologists as belonging to the Indo-Ger- 
manic race, and have maintained peaceful relations with the Rus- 
sians for more than a century. "West of the Ossetes are the Tcher- 
kess, or Circassians, who are divided into three branches, the Kabas- 
dans, the Tcherkess proper, or Adighei, and the Adhaz, or Abkha- 
sians. The Kabardans are Mohammedans, and were foiTnerly the 
most influential of the Circassian tribes, and were the first to accept 
Russian rule. They, as well as their neighbors the Ossetes, took no 
part in the war led by Shamyl, but have been constantly loyal to 
Russia. The Karatchai, who live near the sources of the Kuban, 
took the Russian side in the last revolt, and are regarded as peace- 
able. The Adighei, or Tcherkess, as the Russians call them, or Cir- 
cassians proper, have been most hostile to the Russians, but the ma- 
jority of the race have emigrated to Turkey, and are represented in 
its army with an unenviable notoriety by the Tcherkess bands, whose 
name has become associated with all that is disorderly and barbarous 
in military life. West of the Adighei, and on the southern slopes of 
the mountains, and around the Black Sea coasts, live the Svanetians, 



86 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



a small, disaffected tribe, and the Abkhasians, a mncli larger tribe, 
who gained considerable importance in the summer campaign of 
1877. The Abhhasians possess a separate history, dating back sev- 
eral centuries, and speak a different language from the other tribes, 
are brave, and somewhat unruly. They formerly professed Chris- 
tianity, which was introduced among them in the sixth century, and 
were attached to the Greek Church, but many of the leading fami- 
lies afterward embraced Mohammedanism. The multitude have 
practically lapsed into heathenism, so that little remains of the old 
Christianity except a few superstitious rites and some ruins of 
churches. In 1863 and 1864, after the great Circassian emigration, 
the Russians proposed to them that they should again embrace the 
Christian faith, as a condition of their remaining on their lands. 
Thousands of them took advantage of the offer and were baptized 
in crowds, " with a kind of switch dipped into a tub of water, by a 
priest on the balcony of a house, while the procession passed below." 
This conversion was without sincerity, and had little effect in attach- 
ing the people to Russia. 

The contentment of the upper classes with Russian rule was 
severely tested several years ago, by the abolition of the privileges 
of the Caucasian nobility, which was particularly hard on the Abkhasi- 
ans. Foraierly a complete system of vassalage existed. The land 
was allotted among a very large number of princes and nobles, each 
of whom possessed twenty or thirty houses, with numbers of depend- 
ents, over whom he exercised absolute sway. This system was 
abolished about 1871, when the nobles were deprived of all rights 
over the people, and their lands were divided, without any compen- 
sation being given to them, among the peasants to cultivate. J^ot- 
withstanding, this measure was a real reform akin to the abolition 
of serfage in Russia, and a benefit to the country. Many of the de- 
prived nobles were indignant at the loss they had suffered, and were 
made ready for revolt. Upon a superficial view, the district should 
have afforded an excellent field upon which to direct the efforts to 
excite an insurrection, which the Turks attempted. Transcaucasia, 
or that part of the Caucasus which lies south of the mountains, is 
described by Mr. Bryce, in his " Transcaucasia and Ararat," as being 
on the whole " a fairly contented and peaceable part of the Czar's 
dominions," in which " there does not exist nearly so much bitter- 
ness of feeling among the subjects as there is toward ourselves [the 



CONDITION OF RUSSIA. 



87 



Britisli] in India." The important province of Dagliestan lies in the 
fork of the mountain range. The Lesghians, as the inhabitants are 
called, are a steady, industrious people, engaged in the culture of the 
soil, and the manufacture of iron and weapons, are partly Mohamme- 
dan and partly Christian, and have some literary culture. Thej opposed 
the Russian encroachments steadily, and with regular warfare, but 
having been overcome, submitted manfully, and have given them- 
selves to peaceful pursuits. Shamyl, the great Caucasian leader in 
the last war with Eussia, whose history is as full of romance as that 
of any hero whose exploits have been recorded in story, was a native 
of this province. The southern part of the district was formerly in- 
cluded in the kingdom of Georgia, which has been named G-rusia 
since its annexation to Russia. The people are mostly Christians, 
are loyal to the Russian Government, and are of the higher class of 
Eastern populations. At Baku, on the Caspian Sea, in the midst of 
a region abounding in naphtha wells, are situated a seat of the fire- 
worshipers, and temples in which the holy fires are kept perpetually 
burning. 

The Caucasians have a traditional celebrity for physical beauty, 
and theu' women have been sought out for centm^ies by wealthy 
Mussulmans to be made favorite wives and the chief attractions of 
their harems. The people of many of their tribes undoubtedly 
present a very fine bodily aspect. The Tcherkess, with all their 
moral deficiencies, are a very handsome people, with fine forms, 
small hands and feet, broad shoulders, aquiline uoses, bright eyes, 
pm-e black beards, elastic gait, proud bearing, and picturesque dress. 
The weapons of the richer braves are highly ornamented with gold 
and silver and precious stones. The women wear a clear blue silken 
shirt, embroidered with gold and silver, and gathered at the waist 
with a costly belt, veil themselves in a white yeil covering them from 
head to foot, and practice tight-lacing from childhood. The custom 
of " blood revenge " is characteristic of the people. The feud is 
transmitted from generation to generation, and is permanently ter- 
minated only by stealing a child of the hostile family, taking care of 
him until he has grown up, and then restoring him to his father^, 
when the bitterest enmity is changed into the warmest friendship,. 
This custom is mitigated by the power of Circassian hospitality, 
which permits one to be entertained even by his fiercest enemy, and. 
to be quite secure so long as he is his guest. The boys are taught 



88 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



war-like exercises and dexterity, and are instructed in theft, with the 
full knowledge that they will be punished if they are caught stealing. 

Georgia andEussian Armenia, which form the extreme southern 
part of the Transcaucasian Province, contain about 280,000 Armeni- 
ans. They are separated, only by an arbitrary territorial line, from 
the Armenians of Tm'key, with whom they have common manners 
and characteristics, and the same religion. 




CIRCASSIANS. 



CHAPTER lY. 



HISTOKICAL SKETCH OF TTJEKEY. 

Origin of the Turks— The Seljukian Empire— Rise of the Ottoman Turks— Conquest of 
Constantinople — Growth of the Turkish Empire in Europe, Asia, and Africa— Tui'kish 
Policy with regard to Conquered Nations — Climax of the Ottoman Power under 
Solyman — Spell of Turkish Bravery Broken — Struggle of the Subjected Races for 
Independence — The Sick Man. 

The Tiu'ks came from those regions of Central Asia that have fnr- 
nished the majority of the stocks which have successively occnpied 
different parts of Europe and Western Asia, from the Aryan in- 
vasion down to the present time. They emigrated to the neighbor- 
hood of the Aral and Caspian Seas early in the Christian era, and 
were first mentioned in connection with western history in the sixth 
century, as forming an alliance with the Roman Emperor Justin 
II. They came under Mohammedan influence during the tenth cen- 
tuiy. In the eleventh century they advanced into Persia, subjugated 
the best districts of that country, and from there spread over Syria 
and the greater part of Asia Minor. Their principal chief, who be- 
came paramount, was Seljuk, from whom they received the name of 
Seljukian Turks. The Seljukian Empire attained its greatest extent 
and prosperity under Melek, the grandson of Seljui, when it in- 
cluded, besides the districts already named, Armenia, Georgia, and 
Lower Egypt. After Melek's death it was divided up into smaller 
States, which became rivals, were encroached upon by the Ottoman 
Turks, and were finally extinguished in the thirteenth century by the 
irruption of the Moguls, under Genghis Khan. About the begin- 
ning of the thirteenth centmy, a band of Oghuze Turks emio-rated 
from the main body in Khorasan, Persia, to the mountains of Ar- 
menia, whence a part of it removed and settled near Angora, still 
acknowledging the suzerainty of one of the Seljukian Sultans. A 
Sultan of this part of the band, Othman, or Osman, having made 
considerable conquests from the Greek Empire, established his iude- 
pendence in 1299, and founded the State which has since been known 
as the Turkish, or Ottoman Empire. The present dominant race of 
Turks are called Ottomans after him. Under Orchan, the successor 

(91) 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



of Otliman, all of TVestem Asia was occupied, and Gallipoli, tlie 
first of the acquisitions of tlie Turks in Eui'ope, fell into their hands 
in 1357. From this point the Ottomans gradually advanced in Eu- 
rope, slowly at fii'st, more rapidly as they gained strength. They 
took Adrianople, the most important European position of the Greek 
Empire, in 1361, Phihppopolis shortly afterward, defeated the Ser- 
vians and Hungarians in 1365, then conquered several towns on the 
Thracian coast, and I^issa, a point which plays an important part 
in the wars of the present, made Servia and Bulgaria tributary to 
them in 1375, and Wallachia in 1391, exacted a tribute from the 
Koman Emperor himself, and captured the most important fortresses 
on the Danube in 1391. Their most formidable antagonists during 
this period were the Hungarians, with whom they fought many 
bloody battles. This brave people have, for several centm-ies, borne 
the credit of having at this time saved Westem Em^ope from being 
overrun, like the East. Ivlm-ad XL, fi-om 1121 to 1151, reduced Sa- 
lonica and important positions in Greece. Finally, Mohammed XL, 
the successor of Murad, captured Constantinople after a short siege, 
on the 29th of May, 1153, the Emperor Constantme being slain 
in the final assault, and the Ottomans gained the seat and throne 
of the Eoman Empire. 

Had Europe been united to resist the advance of the Turks, this 
great disaster might have been avoided, and the invaders have been 
driven back into Asia. But the princes and rulers of the petty 
States outside the line of immediate danger were too busy with 
their o^vn little jealousies to give proper attention to a peril which 
menaced the whole; so the Ottomans were allowed to estabhsh 
themselves almost without molestation. All Europe was thrown 
into a panic by the conquest of Constantinople. Terror ruled every- 
where ; but nearly every State seemed to be in a quarrel either be- 
tween its own factions or with some of its neighbors, and the Turks 
were allowed to complete the conquests they had made, and to add 
the rest of Greece, Bosnia, Albania, Herzegovina, and the States in 
Asia which were not already in their own possession. The States 
further west, so far from helping their fellow-Christians against the 
invader or sympathizing with them, were willing to form alliances 
with the Tm'ks if that would help them to gain an advantage over 
a rival. The Ottoman Empire reached its greatest extent under 
Solymai),the Magnificent, and Selim XL, his successor, when it ex- 
tended on the east to the Tigris and Euphrates, included Egypt and 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF TURKEY. 



93 



the Barbarj States, Arabia, Rhodes, and Cyprus, and took in a large 
part of Hungary on the west. A series of wars for the conquest 
of Hungary was begun during the reign of Solyman, in 1521. The 
youno' Kino' of Huno-ary was killed on the battle-field of Mohacs 
in 1528, and immediately three aspirants for the crown began their 
riyalries for the succession instead of resisting the invader, so that 
the Turks had every advantage on their side. In 1529, Buda, the 
principal Hungarian fortress, was occupied, and the Turks ap- 
proached Yienna without resistance, and were prevented from cap- 
tm-ing it only by disorders within their own ranks. ^ A peace was 
concluded in 1533, by which Ferdinand of Austria, as King of 
Hungary, was obliged to pay tiibute for that State. He refusing to 
continne the tribute, the war broke out again in 154:1, and Ferdi- 
nand was compelled after six years of war to purchase peace by tlie 
surrender of the Hungarian territory as far as Stuhlweissenburg, 
Buda, and Gran, and the payment of an annual gift of fifty thou- 
sand dncats for the rest of the kingdom. Solyman renewed the 
war with Austria in 1551 ; the country was again invaded, and the 
Turks made incursions into Carinthia and Styiia. Ferdinand again 
bought a truce in 1562, by which the Turks were left in possession 
of their conquests, and he gave up his claims over Transylvania, 
and submitted to the payment of a yearly tribute of thirty thousand 
ducats. Solyman made war again upon Maximihan, the successor 
of Ferdinand, and again carried all his points in the truce of 1567. 

These wars occurred during the wars of the sixteenth century 
between France and Germany. The French king, desiring to see 
the Hapsbm'gs crippled, threw their influence on the side of the 
Turks, and even entered into alliances with them ; and when the 
Emperor Charles Y., as King of Spain, endeavored to subjugate 
Algiers and Tunis, the French lent a part of their fleet to assist the 
Turks. In return, the French were granted commercial privileges 
in Turkish waters which were denied to other nations, and chained a 
small degree of influence at the Ottoman coui't. War broke out 
between Turkey and Yenice in 1570, the end of which was the 
sarrender of the island of Cj^rus to the Turks, and the payment 
of an indemnity by the Yenetians. In this war, France was again 
friendly to the Turks. 

Circumstances brought Turkey and Poland into close relations 
during a part of the sixteenth century. Poland leaned on Turkey 
for protection against the growing power of Eussia. Turkey was 



94 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



glad to detach all tlie neighboring States it could from alliances with 
Austria. The result was that the Porte for a time exerted an in- 
fluence in Polish affairs extending even to the nomination of the 
king. The alliance was gradually broken up by the operation of 
other natural causes, and in the following century it was the King 
of Poland who saved the West a second time from being overrun 
by the Moslems. Another war between Turkey and Austria, be- 
ginning in 1593, in which the Turks advanced to Komorn, the ex- 
treme limit of then- previous advances, ended in 1606 with the 
Treaty of Sitnatorok, in which Austria bought a release from the 
tribute it had paid for Hungary, and the frontier districts were more 
clearly defined. In a war with Yenice, which began in 1645, the 
Turks gained the city and castle of Candia after their fleet had been 
vanquished twice. A war with Austria which followed, ended in 
the peace of Yasvar, or St. Gotthard, renewing the peace of Sit- 
natorok. Poland was next engaged in war with the Turks, and the 
king, Michael Caribert, concluded a disgraceful peace after a single 
defeat. His successor, John Sobieski, refusing to be bound by the 
terms Michael had granted, renewed the war and gained better ones. 
This king did signal service to the West a few years afterward, 
when the Turks, again at war with Austria, having marched up to 
the walls of Yienna, and being about to capture that capital, he 
came to its rehef, defeated the invaders conclusively, and saved the 
city and Austria, September 12, 1683. In the next year, Austria, 
Poland, and Yenice concluded a holy alliance " against the Porte, 
and attacked its possessions in Hungary, Dalmatia, and the Morea, 
and on the Dniester defeated the Turks in several great battles, 
took some of their most important border forts, and after a war of 
about sixteen years' duration, concluded in 1699 the peace of Carlo- 
vitz, the most creditable treaty which any Christian power had yet 
made with Turkey. It was the first treaty in which the payment 
of a tribute in some form to the Porte was not stipulated for, and 
was also the first in which neutral Christian powers acted as media- 
tors, England and Holland having given their services in that 
capacity to promote the conclusion of an honorable peace. 

Russia began to be prominent in the wars against Turkey early 
in the eighteenth century. Previous to this time some border wars 
had occurred between the two powers, whi(& grew out of the depre- 
dations of the Tartars and Cossacks, but they were insignificant in 
comparison with the wars with Austria, Poland, and Yenice. The 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF TURKEY. ^5 

Trar beginning in 1710, in ^vliicli the Czar twice bought his security 
against yielding a disgraceful peace by bribing the Grand Yizier, is 
noteworthy as having led indirectly to the wars with Venice and 
Austria (1714: to 1718), in which the Austrian Prince Eugene gained 
the brilliant victory of Peterwardein (1716), and in consequence of 
which a new adjustment of boundaries was made at the Treaty of 
Passarovitz, to the disadvantage of Tm-key. A war with Kussia 
and Austria (1736 to 1739) resulted, after the peace of Belgrade, in 
gains of territory for Pussia, and losses for Austria. 

In 1768, the Turks interfered in behaK of the Catholic party of 
Poland, to check the growth of Eussian influence in that kingdom. 
The war which ensued was a disastrous one for them, and ended in 
their losing the Crimea, and yielding to Pussia Kertch, Jenikala, 
and Azov, the free navigation of the Black Sea and the Sea of Mar- 
mora, and other important commercial privileges, and paying an in- 
demnity. The Crimea was finally occupied by the Pussians in 
1783. The Turks nearly lost Constantinople in tliis war, and it was 
saved to them only by the interference of England and Prussia. 

This occasion marks the introduction of the poKcy of making the 
affairs of Tm'key a subject of European concern, and also the origin 
of the British doctrine that the integrity of Tm-key must be main- 
tained. During a part of the period of the French Pevolution, the 
attitude of parties was curiously reversed, and the Porte was engaged 
in a defensive alliance wnth Pussia and England against the aggres- 
sions of the French in the East. The alliance ceased in 1802 upon 
the conclusion of the peace of Amiens between France, Turkey, and 
England. 

Turkev and Pussia were ao^ain engao-ed in war in 1806. At first 
the Turks were supported by the French, and Pussia by England. 
Both these alliances were broken up before the end of the war. The 
Emperor Xapoleon of France engaged in secret plots with the Czar 
Alexander, for the dismemberment and division of Turkey, and En- 
gland concluded the peace of Dardanelles with the Porte. The peace 
of Bucharest, concluded in May, 1812, made the river Pruth the 
boundary between Pussia and Tm-key, established the freedom of 
the Lower Danube to the trade of both countries, and assured to Ser- 
via the position as a semi-independent tributary State, for which it 
had been striving since 1804. 

The revolution in Greece began in 1821. The campaigns of the 
Turks were accompanied with barbarities, which, like those perpe- 
trated nearly fifty years later in Bulgaria, excited general abhorrence. 



96 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



while the bravery of the Greeks aroused for them the sympathy of 
the Western peoples. The powers tried to put an end to the war by 
negotiation, without taking an active part in it. Their overtures 
were rejected by the Porte, and England, France, and Russia sent 
their fleets to the Mediterranean to prevent further hostilities. The 
Western fleets met those of Turkey and Egypt in the Port of ]N"ava- 
rino in 1827, became engaged with them, and entirely destroyed 
them. Russia declared war against Turkey in 1828, but concluded 
with it the peace of Adrianople in the next year. The independence 
of Greece was established and confirmed, and its boundaries were de- 
fined by the London protocol of 1830. 

The downfall of the Turkish Empire had been looked upon for 
several years as a certain event of the future. Napoleon and the 
Czar had discussed it as early as 1807. In 1833, Sir Archibald Ali- 
son wrote in the Quarterly Hevieio^ that " the Ottoman power has, 
within these twenty years, rapidly and irrecoverably declined." It 
had suffered by internal dissensions as well as by foreign wars. The 
Yiceroy of Egypt had given it much trouble by his efforts to secure 
independence, and had gained a degree of strength which, together 
with his steady pursuit of the idea of a sovereignty of his own, made 
him a very insecure vassal ; and the Turkish court, to save itself 
from destruction, had been obliged to plot and execute the murder 
of the Janizaries, which, while it removed a pressing danger, also de- 
prived the Empire of a strong military arm. For the last fifty years, 
European diplomacy with reference to Turkey has consisted chiefly 
of endeavors on one side to find opportunities and occasions for de- 
stroying it, and efforts on the other to maintain it ; and its continued 
existence during that period has been mainly due to the jealousy en- 
tertained by England, France, and Austria against Russia and against 
each other. 

In 1831, Russia assisted the Porte in suppressing a rebellion of 
Mehemet Ali, the Pasha of Egypt. This vassal rebelled again in 
1839, and was supported by France. England, Austria, Prussia, and 
Russia came to the help of the Porte and engaged in a quadruple 
alliance in 1840, to protect the integrity of the Turkish Empire. 
Among the results of these proceedings was the negotiation of a 
treaty permanently closing the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles 
against all foreign vessels of war, so long as the Porte should enjoy 
peace. The Crimean war, the last of the great wars of Turkey 
previous to that of 1877, originated in a dispute between the Greek 
and Latin Churches at Jerusalem, regarding the right to the control 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF TURKEY. 



97 



and use of the " Holy places " of that city. Louis JSTapoleon of 
France is accused of having instigated and promoted the controversy. 
He supported the Latin priests. The Czar Nicholas of Russia took 
up the cause of the Greeks, and pressed it with a demand to be 
recognized as the protector of all the Greek Christians under Otto- 
man rule, which was very offensive to Turkey. During the discus- 
sions of the subject among the powders in 1853, Turkey was spoken 
of as the " sick man " who must soon die and leave his estate to be 
administered upon. The Czar proposed to the British Envoy at St. 
Petersburg a division of the estate, in which the Danubian princi- 
palities (Moldavia and Wallachia), Servia, and Bulgaria, should be- 
come independent States under Russian protection, and England 
should receive Egypt and Candia. England refused to countenance 
this scheme. The Czar then made a formal demand upon Turkey 
to make an engagement to secure forever to the Orthodox Church 
and its clergy all the rights and immunities which they had already 
enjoyed, and those of which they were possessed from ancient times." 
The Porte refused to make such an engagement, and diplomatic re- 
lations between the two powers were suspended in May, 1853. The 
Russians entered Moldavia in July, 1853, and declared war in the 
next ]^ovember, the Sultan having declared war on the 5th of 
October. 

England, France, Austria, and Prussia united to support the 
Porte against the Russian demands, and through their representa- 
tives adopted a protocol at Vienna in April, 1854, which affirmed 
the duty of maintaining the territorial integrity of the Ottoman 
Empire, and of also securing, by every means compatible with the 
independence and sovereignty of the Sultan, the civil and religious 
rights of his Christian subjects. France and England supported 
Turkey with their arms, and Sardinia joined these allies at the 
beginning of 1855. The war was signalized by the brilliant vic- 
tories of, the allies at the battles of the Alma, Balaklava, and 
Inkerman, and the capture and destruction of the fortress of 
Sevastopol, in the Crimea, offset by the single victory of the 
Russians in the capture of Kars, in Armenia. E'egotiatioES for 
peace were begun, which resulted in the conclusion of the Treaty 
of Paris on the 2Tth of April, 1856. Seven powers were parties to 
this treaty, viz. : Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, 
Sardinia, and Turkey. The treaty recognized Turkey as one of 
the powers of the European system, standing before the public 
law and in diplomatic negotiations on an equal footing with all the 



98 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



other powers ; engaged the contracting powers to respect the inde- 
pendence and integrity of the Ottoman Empu-e, and to make every 
assault upon the same a question of common interest ; and stipulated 
that in case of a difference arising between the Porte and any of 
the powers threatening the continuance of their good relations, the 
other powers should be given an opportunity to mediate before 
resort to arms should be had. It recited the fact that the Sultan 
had issued a new firman (the Hatti-Ilumayun), designed to improve 
the condition of his subjects without distinction as to religion or 
race, and had of his owm accord communicated the same to the con- 
tracting parties, and declared it to be clearly understood that this 
act could not in any case give the said powers the right to interfere, 
either collectively or separately, in the relations of His Majesty the 
Sultan with his subjects, nor in the internal administration of his 
Empire. The treaty declared the Black Sea neutral and open to 
the commerce of all nations ; re-established the rule which excluded 
the vessels of foreign powers from the Dardanelles and the Bos- 
phorus so long as Turkey remained at peace, and prohibited both 
Bussia and Turkey from keeping vessels of war in the Black Sea, 
except such a number as they should both agree to be necessary as 
a police. It confirmed the position of Servia, Moldavia, and Walla- 
chia in the condition of semi-independence which they had gained, 
with the full enjoyment of all the privileges and immunities which 
they had acquired, pledged the Porte to preserve them all, and the 
other contracting powers to guarantee their preservation. 

In 1860 France intervened to protect the Christians from a vio- 
lent persecution which had broken out agaiast them in Syria, but 
was prevented by England from occupying that country. In 1866, 
an insurrection broke out in the island of Candia, or Crete, which 
the Turkish Government suppressed after a long effort, maiked by 
many cruelties, but without interference from any of the powers. 
In 18Y0, Bussia took advantage of the powerless condition of 
France, caused by its entanglement in the war with Germany, to 
declare that it would be no longer bound by the limitations im- 
posed by the Treaty of Paris upon the size of its fleet in the Black 
Sea, and proceeded to increase the number of its vessels in those 
waters. In 1876, in the course of the diplomatic correspondence 
concerning the Bosnian insurrection and the Servian war, it declared 
that the Treaty of Paris had been broken, and was no longer binding 
upon it. 



CHAPTER Y. 



PRESENT CONDITION OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE AND THE OSMANLI TURKS. 

The Ruling Nationality in Turkey — Distribution of Races — What Prevents the Assimila- 
tion of the Ottomans with the More Civilized Nations— Abortive Attempts at Re- 
form — Religious Toleration — Work of Protestant and Catholic Missionaries — The 
Educational Condition of Turkey — Agricultural and Mineral Resources — Tenure of 
Land — The Army and Navy — Desperate Condition of the Finances. 

The Turkish Empire ranks in point of extent and population 
among the largest States of the world. It is only sm-passed by the 
British, Russian, and Chinese Empires in both respects, and by the 
United States and Brazil in point of population. But it occupies a 
very different position if we compare its internal condition with that 
of other States. In this respect it is greatly inferior to any other 
country of Europe. The Turkish Government has shown itself 
utterly unfit to establish an efficient administration. Turkey has 
come to be known as the " sick man," and the continuance of its 
existence depends wholly on the disposition toward it of the great 
powers of Europe. 

The ruling nationality in Turkey, the Ottoman, or Osmanli Turks, 
belong to the Turanian race. The only other nationality of Europe 
which belongs to the same race are the Hungarians, or Magyars. 
But while the latter have for nearly a thousand years been identified 
with the other nations of Europe in religion, have constantly received 
large admixtures of the Aryan race, to which the remainder of Eu- 
rope belongs, and have succeeded in obtaining a high degree of cult- 
ure and political capacity, the Turks have during the whole period 
of four hundred years during which they have lived in Eastern Eu- 
rope, remained foreign and hostile to the Aryan nations of Europe, 
and present to-day the most remarkable example of that backward- 
ness in progress and civilization which charactertizes almost the 
entire Turanian race. Still greater is the breach which the religion 
of the Turks constitutes between them and the remainder of Europe. 
They have been during all these four hundred years the only sover- 
eign nation of Europe which professes the Mohammedan religion. 



102 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The Moliammedan States, without any exception, have long been 
in a state of decline and decay. The inferiority of their culture to 
that of the Christian nations is still more marked than the inferiority 
of the Turanian race to the Aryan. Thus both by race and relig- 
ious affinity the Turks belong to a system of States which is con- 
stantly receding before the advance of a superior civilization, and it 
is only natural that public opinion in the more civilized States has 
accustomed itself to look upon them as a people who are not only 
strangers . and foreigners in Europe, but who should give way to 
nations which in every respect are their superiors. 

The Ottomans, or Osmanli Turks, predominate very largely in 
the Asiatic part of the Empire, but in the European part they form 
only one-eighth of the whole population. Affihated with them are 
the Arabs, whom they conquered, and whose religion they have 
embraced. The Arabs number less than one million of the sixteen 
millions of the population of Asiatic Turkey, but they constitute 
the whole of the settled population (aside from the African races 
proper) of the African dependencies. IN ext in importance in Asiatic 
Turkey are the Armenian, Greek, Syrian, and Chaldean Christians, 
the Turkomans, near relatives of the Turks, Kurds, and Druses. 
The Slavic races constitute one-half the population of European 
Turkey. They number about four millions and are four times as 
numerous as the Turks. After them come a million Turks, 900,000 
Greeks, 820,000 Albanians, 200,000 Armenians, Y0,000 Jews, and 
11,000 Tartars. The actual proportion of Mohammedans is, how- 
ever, larger than appears from these figures ; for a considerable num- 
ber of the Slavic people, particularly in Bosnia, have professed the 
Mohammedan faith, and about two-thirds of the Albanians are of 
that religion ; so that the Mohammedans number about one-third of 
the whole. 

A curious fact in relation to the different races which people Eu- 
ropean Turkey is the irregular manner in which they are distributed 
and mingled. " No locality," says Baker, in his ^' Turkey," " can be 
found where the population is exclusively of the same nationality, 
but a rival race crops up here and there and jostles its neighbors. 
We find, for instance, a quarter where the majority of the popula- 
tion is Bulgarian, but among them in considerable numbers are 
Turks, Greeks, Circassians, and Gypsies. In another quarter the 
majority are Albanians, but they again have to bear the friction of 
Bulgarians, Wallachs, Greeks, and Turks ; and so on all over the 



CONDITION OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 103 

coimtiy. Each of these nations has its own language, religion, and 
customs ; and it therefore follows that the difficulty of governing 
the mass lies in a direct ratio to the number of races represented in 
it ; and when it is borne in mind that in Europe alone no less than 
eight distinct nationalities, each with a considerable population, and 
several others of smaller degree can claim the rights of Turkish 
subjects, some idea may be formed of the obstacles in the path of 
good government in Turkey." Mr. Baker illustrates the difficulty 
which the Government experiences in dealing with this variety of 
races by supposing the embarrassments which England would en- 
counter if it had fifteen Irelands to manage instead of one. 

The Turks, according to the latest review of the distribution of 
population as given in l^o. 7 of Peterman's MiUheiliingen^ for 
1876, are to be found as a compact population only in the Yilayet 
of the Danube and the sanjaks of Rustchuk, Tultcha, and Yarna. 
They are less numerous in the Khodope Mountains. On the shores 
of the ^gean Sea and the Sea of Marmora and on the south-east 
shore of the Black Sea, they are greatly outnumbered by the Greeks, 
especially in the direction of Constantinople. The Bulgarians oc- 
cupy the country south of the Danube, their southern boundary 
being a line passing thi^ough the towns of ^N^issa, Prisrend, Ochrida, 
Kastoria, l^iagostos, Salonica, Adrianople, and Burgas, on the Black 
Sea. They are also scattered in various districts of Albania, "Wal- 
lachia, and the Dobmdja. The Servians (including Bosnians, 
Herzegovinians, and Montenegrins) occupy the space between the 
Bulgarian Morava, the Save, and the Dalmatian frontier as far as 
Albania. On the rio;ht bank of the Morava, their villao-es are inter- 
spersed with Pumanian settlements. The Albanians inhabit the 
country south of Montenegro down to the frontier of the Greek 
kingdom. Other races in European Turkey are the Zinzars, nearly 
related to the Pumanians, most of whom live among the Albanians 
in Epirus and Thessaly ; the Armenians in the Turkish towns ; the 
Magyars, or Hungarians ; the Kogai Tartars in the Dobrudja ; the 
Gypsies in Pumania, Albania, and Bulgaria ; the Je^vs,^ Pussians, 
Arabs, Poles, and Germans. The last three races are^ however, but 
scantily represented. 

The greatest drawback to the assimilation of Turks with Euro- 
peans is polygamy, which imposes upon the people social ideas and 
customs opposite to those wliicli prevail in the West. Under the 
practice of polygamy, and more by its influence than by any other 

6 



104 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



assignable cansG,-^ the Turks, once the formidable conquerors of the 
fairest part of the world— particularly those of the wealthier classes, 
whose opportunities to enjoy a plurality of wives have been the 
best— have sunk into a kind of indolent stupor and listlessness. 
Lassitude characterizes their actions in private and public. The 
whole country bears evidence of the indifference and lack of energy 
which seem to have become one of the inherited qualities of the 
Ottomans, and to be growing more obvious with each generation. 
It is generally admitted that the stock of the Imperial family is worn 
out, so that there is not one in the whole list of eligible candidates 
for Sultan who is really competent for the position. The other 
families of high station are not much better off. With a few ex- 
ceptions, the really competent higher officers of the nation are men 
who have risen from a low origin, or are foreigners, whose Otto- 
manized names are the only things about them that are Turkish. 

Another influence which keeps Turkey apart from the western 
nations of Europe is found in the fanaticism and lack of intelligence 
of the Mussulmans of the remote provinces, who oppose every effort 
of the Government to carry out reforms, and defeat it unless it is 
supported by a stronger force than can be afforded. Assimilation 
is further hindered by the imbecility and corruptibility of the pro- 
vincial administrators, who, remote from the seat of Government, 
and holding their positions by a tenure regulated rather by the 
caprice of the court than by any consideration of their fidelity, 
think more of filling their purses and having an easy time than of 
governing well. 

The Porte has made several attempts to introduce constitutional 
reforms into the Empire ; they have not been supported by efficient 
measures to execute them, and have been left inoperative, and the 
misrule they were to abolish has hardly been disturbed by them. 
Observing and remembering these successive failures to accomplish 
any salutary object, the people of Europe have acquired the habit 
of regarding any Turkish promise to do away with an evil or to 
improve administration anywhere as a nullity. Yet some improve- 
ment has been realized from these efforts. 

The first promise of general reform was made by Sultan Mah- 
mond IL, in November, 1839, in a document which was called the 
Hatti-Sherif of Gulhane. Sixteen years passed, in which noth- 



*Tlie direct influence of polygamy upon the deterioration of the Turkish people is 
treated of fully in another chapter. 



CONDITION OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 



105 



ing was done to carry out the provisions of this charter, wlien it was 
renewed and extended by Sultan Abdul Med j id in the charter called 
the Hatti-Humayun, promulgated in February, 1856. The renewal 
of the charter was mentioned in the Treaty of Paris as the consider- 
ation on which the powers admitted Turkey to the company of 
European States, and guaranteed to it its rights as an independent 
and inviolable power. The charter thus renewed, professed to 
secure liberty of worship and equality of rights to the Christian 
inhabitants of Turkey, and promised that the laws should be codi- 
fied, the administration of justice reformed, that the collection of 
the taxes should be regulated, and that banks, public institutions, 
and public improvements should be established or prosecuted. More 
than twenty years longer elapsed, during which the charter was not 
carried out, although an immediate execution of its provisions was 
repeatedly promised whenever and wherever manifestations of local 
dissatisfaction became formidable, when it was again renewed, with 
additional features, all in favor of liberty and liberality, in the Con- 
stitution of December, 1876. This constitution copies the best 
features of the fundamental law of the most enlightened govern- 
ments, and would, if faithfully executed, make Turkey one of the 
freest States. It has, moreover, gone, in part, into actual operation, 
and the experiment of applying it has been begun with an earnest- 
ness which should have obtained for it a fairer trial than Turkey has 
been allowed to give it. 

The first Turkish Parliament has been chosen, and has actually 
sat and deliberated under the new Constitution. It is a respectable 
body in point of ability and culture. Among its members are 
cultivated scholars and statesmen of enlightened views and far- 
sightedness, who are capable of giving credit to any legislative 
body on the earth. Whatever may be its shortcomings, it is a real 
Parliament, representing its constituencies, and is a beginning. 
Pussia has not yet had a Parliament, or taken steps to call one. 
The Grand Duchy of Finland has one, it is true, but it is an insti- 
tution which the country possessed before it was incorporated with 
Russia, and which has been preserved to it, in distinction from the 
usage which has prevailed in other parts of the Empire, by especial 
concession. 

Turkey has made great advances in the direction of religious 
liberty. From being one of the most intolerant of despotisms, it 
has become, so far as governmental declarations can make it, one of 



io6 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



the moPst tolerant of States. The equal right of Mussulman and 
n on- Mussulman subjects has been repeatedly declared, with every 
variation of language and particulars. Only in respect to the lia- 
bility to conscription has a distinction been made, and the distinction 
has in this case been based on obvious considerations of policy. 
This distinction was practically abolished in 18^6, when the Gov- 
ernment gave notice that it would accept, and did accept, Christian 
volunteers ; and under the new policy Christian corps have been 
actually organized among the Turkish defensive forces. The en- 
rollment of Christians for military service equally with Mohamme- 
dans has, furthermore, been definitely and permanently provided 
for in the new Constitution of 1876. 

JSTon-Mohammedaus are eligible and have been frequently ap- 
pointed to offices of high trust and profit. They may be found in 
stations near to the household of the Sultan, and in close connection 
with the cabinet. The appointment of Christian Governors or 
responsible administrators in the provinces is far from being an 
extraordinary occurrence; and in the Parliament which met in 
1877, all the religions of the Empire were fairly represented. 
Thus, among the deputies returned from Constantinople at the 
election of the second of March^ were five Turks, four Christians, 
and one Jew ; and of the Christians, one was a Greek, one was a 
Koman Catholic Armenian, and two were Gregorian Armenians. 

Christians and Jews form their societies and congregations, build 
churches and synagogues, and worship with entire freedom, so far 
as the Government is concerned, throughout the Empire. Their 
ecclesiastical organizations and administrations are respected and 
upheld by the laws, the jurisdiction of their tribunals as to internal 
affairs, and their discipline are respected ; and no obstacle is opposed 
to the exercise of his legitimate authority over his own people by 
any bishop, priest, rabbi, or pastor, be he Greek, Armenian, Roman 
Catholic, Jew, or Protestant. Christians are, however, not pro- 
tected from popular outbreaks or oppression by local officers, and 
this is the text of most of their complaints of grievance. It shows 
that the Government is inefficient and badly administered. It is 
worthy of remark that the Jews make stronger complaints of worse 
treatment which they endure at the hands of the professed Chris- 
tians of Pumania. 

The work of the Missionary Societies is countenanced by the Gov- 
ernment, and receives as much protection as the Porte affords to any 



CONDITION OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 



107 



of its subjects. The operations of American Societies in particular 
have been very successful. Armenia, Asia Minor, and the regions 
around Constantinople are dotted with the churches of the American 
Board, and Syria with those of the Presbyterian Board. The Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church has a smaller mission work in Bulgaria, the 
United Presbyterian Church one in Syria, and the United Presbyte- 
rian Mission in Egypt has been very prosperous, and has become quite 
important. Flourishing schools for boys and girls, young men and 
young women, are connected with these missions at important points, 
and are recognized as valuable auxiliaries to the education of the 
people. Robert College, of the American Board, at Constantinople, 
is a well-established institution in high repute, enjoying the confi- 
dence of the people and the Government. It has a faculty of Ameri- 
can teachers of recognized scholarship, and competent Armenian, 
Bulgarian, French, Greek, and Turkish professors, and is well at- 
tended, the majority of the students being Bulgarians. 

The Syrian Protestant College at Beyrut, which grew out of the 
Presbyterian Mission in that city, is another institution which is as- 
suming prominence. It has literary and medical departments, an 
astronomical observatory, and a faculty of excellent instructors, who 
are for the most part graduates of the Union Theological Seminary 
in ]^ew York City. It is surrounded by other schools of the Pres- 
byterian Mission, with two English schools and the school of the 
Kaiserswerth Deaconesses. The colleges of the American Board 
at Harpoot and Aintab, and the schools of the United Presbyterians 
at Osiout, Egypt, are younger institutions which promise well. 
Besides the higher institutions, nearly every Mission station has its 
primary or academic school, well attended and appreciated. The 
Missionary Societies have built up, in connection with their Missions, 
extensive publishing enterprises. The American Board issues from 
its presses, books, tracts, and papers in the various languages which 
are spoken in the Empire. The works in Armenian, published by 
this Society, which are numerous and meritorious, deserve especial 
commendation. The Presbyterian presses at Beyrut sent forth in 
1876 thirty-eight thousand, four hundred and fifty volumes, com- 
prising 13,786,980 pages of Bibles, tracts, and other books, including 
a series of text-books and a number of juvenile works. 

The missionaries of these Societies often bear witness, in their 
communications to the Home Boards, to the respectful treatment 
which they receive from the Government, and the general harmony 



io8 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



of tlie relations which exist between them and the responsible offi- 
cers with whom thej have to deal. The Hev. Dr. E. E. Bliss, of 
Constantinople, in a paper which he has recently published* on the 
" Indirect Results of Missionary Labor in IN'orthern Turkey," says, 
speaking of the battle which has been going on, for some twenty-five 
or thirty years past, on questions of religious liberty : " The world 
knows, too, or should know, that although the victory has not been 
so completely and fijially on the side of liberty as has been desired, 
or as has, sometimes, in the joy of notable success in special issues, 
been claimed, yet religious liberty is to-day enjoyed in a remark- 
able degree compared with what was the case thirty or forty years 
ago." The presence, the teaching, and the steadfast maintenance 
of their principles by the missionaries, he adds, " have had a very 
great influence, not only in directing the attention both of Govern- 
ment officials and of the mass of the people to the question at issue, 
but in spreading enlightened and just views, and in seeming right ac- 
tion in regard to it." The Rev. Mr, Fuller, of the American Board, 
writing from Aintab, March 22, 18T7,t says : " The Government 
is now nervously anxious not only about the safety, but even the 
ojyinion of foreigners, and they are veiy prompt to render us any aid 
we ask. We have nothing to fear while the present Government 
stands, except it be from some vicious or fanatical person planning 
secret mischief, or from some suddenly excited and reckless mob. 
The Moslems always seem friendly to us, and great numbers call on 
us, and show marked tokens of respect, yet in these times some sud- 
dei] passion may outweigh it all." 

Another letter from a missionary of the same Society, of Decem- 
bei 29, 1876, speaks of an annual celebration having just been held 
by the Protestants of Turkey, in commemoration of the issuing of 
the firman granting them rehgious toleration. Dr. Bliss published 
in the Missionary Herald for February, 1877, an article on the 
'-Attitude of the Missionaries in Turkey," which shows how they 
have gained and hold the respect and confidence of the Moslem offi- 
cials, simply by adherence to the principle of abstinence from all in- 
terference in political affairs. A prejudice once existed against them 
founded on the suspicion that they were pohtical agents, but this has 
long since disappeared, and men now " recognize the fact that the 
doctrines preached by the missionaries will, through their stimulat- 



i! 



* t Msaionary Herald^ 1877. 



CONDITION OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 



109 



ing and elevating power, at lengtli exert an influence in tlie domain 
of politics ; but they admit the distinction between the legitimate 
influence of religious doctrine and political propagandism." The 
missionaries had not, however, hesitated to denounce acts of oppres- 
sion coming under their observation, by whomsoever committed ; 
they had remonstrated with Turkish oflacials and ecclesiastical rulers 
in such cases ; had brought wrong acts to the notice of the Govern- 
ment, and had even, in important cases, appealed to European and 
American public opinion and the friendly ofiices of foreign Govern- 
ments, but had done such things openly and above-board, and avoided 
incurring prejudice. During the exciting events of 1875 and 1876, 
while holding aloof from political schemes, the missionaries in Bul- 
garia endeavored to discharge all the duties of Christian philanthropy ; 
they advised the people against any attempt at insurrection, and as 
soon after the massacres took place, as it became safe, they visited the 
principal places in the ravaged district. They afterward did all in 
their power to make known to the Turkish Government and the 
Christian public, the greatness of the ravages committed, and at the 
time of writing were administering succor to the suflering survivors. 
These acts were done with the full knowledge of the Turkish au- 
thorities, but exposed the missionaries to no suspicion of sinister 
designs. 

The Eev. IT. G. Clark, Secretary of the American Board, at the 
close of June, 18Y7, published in the papers a statement concerning 
the. condition; of the missionaries at Erzerum, Armenia, who were 
almost in the center of the military operations in Asia, to the effect 
that the Turkish authorities were everywhere, so far as was known, 
considerate and obliging; that while the missionaries had been 
given the largest liberty to go or stay, they had so far decided to 
stay ; and that they had been able to prosecute their work, in spite 
of the unsettled condition of affairs, with but little interruption, and 
with a larger measure of success than in any former year ; and that 
they had " not expressed a tithe of the anxiety shown by their- 
friends at home." 

The missionaries of the Roman Catholic Church are also con- 
ducting a large number of schools, some of which are in a flourishing 
condition. The funds are supplied by foreign missionary bodies,, 
by the Congregation of the Propaganda, and the French Govera- 
menl, which contributes 40,000 francs a year. The Austrian Gov- 
ernment has been the great protector of the Armenian Catholics^ 



I lO 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Their colleges and schools are ably conducted by the celebrated 
Order of the Mekhitarists, who give instruction in Armenian, 
French, and Turkish, and have furnished some of the best Turkish 
scholars among the Christians in the Government service. In the 
great towns are Propaganda colleges, on the French system, in 
which French is the chief language for instruction. 

An edition of the Bible was printed in Arabic by the American 
Bible Society in 1846, and is widely circulated in the East, and a 
Roman Catholic translation, in high Arabic, is in process of publi- 
cation from the Jesuit Press at Beyrut. 

The tolerance which permits this development of missionary 
entei-prise is of recent origin, for it is only about thirty years since 
beheading was the punishment prescribed by law for a Mussulman 
wdio changed his religion. 

The Turks have been brought, by their contact with the Western 
people, to appreciate the advantages of European civilization, and 
observe the superior strength it gives. They have striven to imitate 
it, and to adopt outwardly some of its more obvious features. They 
have, further, been forced, by the pressure of the Western powers 
in behalf of their Christian subjects, to adopt, as we have seen, 
certain reforms in law and methods of administration, tending to 
make their system of government seem more liberal. These changes 
are as yet mostly superficial, and mark the adoption of the forms of 
which they are imitations, rather than of the principles which inspire 
European civilization, yet they are encouraging. They show that 
the Turks may be taught to try to assimilate with the Western 
people ; and it will be hardly possible to maintain such liberal 
amendments as the Porte has made in its laws and usages, without 
in time imbibing some of the spirit with which similar legal and 
political principles have been applied in other countries. If the 
Turks are still behind in the application of constitutional freedom, 
we must remember that it is not yet thirty years since the majority 
of the States of Europe which now talk so earnestly of forcing this 
boon upon the subjects of the Porte, exchanged the irresponsible 
government of an absolute king for that of a Parliament and 
ministry responsible to the people; and if Christians are badly 
treated in Turkey, that it is a still shorter period since Protestants 
were subject to intolerant legislation in several Catholic States, and 
Catholics suffered from intolerant laws in several Protestant States. 
The schools of Turkey are practically left in the charge of the 



CONDITION OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 1 1 3 

several relioioiis denominations. Besides the schools of the Mis- 

o 

sionarj Societies, to which we have already referred, schools are 
conducted by French and Italian Eoman Catholic missionaries, the 
Greek and Armenian churches, and the Jews. The Medresses, or 
colleges attached to the Mohammedan Mosques, afford instruction in 
the Turkish language, Ai-abic and Persian, the Koran, and Com- 
mentaries upon it, and teach, though in a very defective manner, 
tlieology, law, philosophy, rhetoric, morals, history, and geography. 
Primary schools have long been established in most of the towns. 
An effoii: was made in the educational law of 1869 to pro^vide a 
general system of instruction, but like most of the promising 
schemes of the Go^'ernment, it has been of little effect for want of 
execution. It made education obligatory for boys of between six 
and eleven, and for girls of between six and ten years of age, and 
required every village and every ward of a town to have at least 
one primary school. For secondary schools, it provided that every 
town of more than one thousand houses should have a preparatory 
school, with a three years' course of instruction, and that the chief 
town of every province should have a lyceum, with a six years' 
course. It directed that separate schools be estabhshed for Moham- 
medans and for Christians wherever the population was sufficient 
to warrant it, with instruction to be given in the Koran or the 
Christian religion, according to the faith of the pupils, as a part of 
the regular com^se. It also made provision for normal schools. 
The school system was j)lacec] under the control of the Imperial 
Council of Education, and it was directed that the school authorities 
in the provinces and departments be composed in equal numbers 
of Mohammedans and persons of other religious belief. According 
to the latest accounts, there were in Constantinople 454 primary 
schools of ail denominations, with 33,000 pupils, and in all Turkey 
95 superior primary schools, with about 7,600 pupils, A university, 
with faculties of literature, law, and natural science and mathe- 
matics, was opened at Constantinople in 18T0, and the capital and 
its vicinity are provided with several special and technical schools. 
Among these is the School of Administration, established in 1862, a 
lay institution, which educates Mussulmans for appointments as 
governors, or magistrates, of small districts. 

The literature of Turkey dates from the beginning of the Os- 
manli dynasty, and had assumed foiTQ before Constantinople was 
captured. It is founded on Arabic and Persian models, and, al- 



114 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



thougli it is respectable in quantitj, it holds a very inferior place in 
a comparative history of the literature of the world. Its most flour- 
ishing period was in the sixteenth century. Literature and science 
have received increased attention within the last generation, and 
Turkey has many men of letters who are well known and well 
esteemed abroad. Several scientific and literai-y societies have been 
established at Constantinople, and publish jom-nals and magazines 
of merit. The publication of a Universal Cyclopedia,'' in sixteen 
volumes, in Arabic, based in part upon " Appleton's ^N'ew American 
Cyclo|)edia," has been begun at Beyiait by Mr. B. Bistanys, a con- 
vert of the Presbyterian Mission at that place. 

All parts of Turkey enjoy a climate and a capacity for agricultural 
development not excelled by those of any country. Egypt, Syria, 
and Asia Minor Avere the most fruitful countries of ancient times, 
and surpassed any countries of Europe in wealth. They have grown 
poor through misgovemment and the neglect to which it leads. 
The European parts of the Empire are not so well situated, for their 
climate is less favorable ; but the soil is good, and the land is capable 
of a culture at least approaching that of the best parts of Europe. 
Husbandry is in a state of primitive simplicity, the tillage is rude 
and imperfect, and the taxes, or rather the tax-gatherers, are oppres- 
sive, so that the farmers are hardly able to earn more than a bare 
subsistence. The forests produce timber of fir, pine, beech, oak, 
lime, and ash ; the fields, millet, rice, cotton, rye, barley, and Indian 
corn ; the orchards, the best fruits of the temperate zone. Asiatic 
Turkey produces all the grains of a southern climate, cedars, cy- 
presses, and oaks on the mountains; sycamores and mulberries on 
the lower hills, and olives, figs, citrons, oranges, and pomegranates 
in the plains. The figs, olives, and vine products of Asiatic Turkey 
and the prunes and rose extracts of European Turkey, form impor- 
tant articles in the commerce of the world. Mines of various metals 
are numerous in both Turkeys, and were worked in ancient times 
with profit. At present they yield but little, and that is got in large 
part by working over the debris which the ancients have left. The 
country was once better watered than it is at present, and supported 
large herds of cattle. It is now, in consequence of the removal of 
the trees, as is generally supposed, subject to scorching droughts, 
but the pasturage is good in the valleys. Manufactures are not nu- 
merous or extensive, but the Turks make certain preparations and 
fine articles of value, in which they defy competition and command 



CONDITION OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 



the markets of the world. There are no official statistics of the for- 
eign commerce of the Empire, but it is quite important, and is said to 
be increasing. The exports are estimated at about ten million pounds 
sterling. They consist chiefly of grain products, wool, goats' hair, 
drugs, dye-stuffs, fruit products, perfumery, and fancy articles. 

A railway system was begun in 1865, of which on the first of 
January, 18Y6, 1,137 miles were open — 965 miles in European, 172 
miles in Asiatic Turkey. The telegraph lines have a total length of 
17,618 miles. The post-office is in its infancy, and is as yet mostly 
in the hands of foreigners. There are only four hundred and thirty 
post-offices in the whole Empire. 

Russia is a primitive country, which is passing through the first 
stages of its development. Turkey is a country once highly civil- 
ized, rich, and progressive, which has fallen into decay. In this 
respect the promise of the future is with Russia. 

The lands of Turkey are divided into Yakuf, or Church prop- 
erty, private lands and domain lands. The Yakuf property con- 
sists of that which actually belongs to the ecclesiastical establish- 
ments, and of that which lapses to the ecclesiastical boards in default 
of direct heirs to the owner. The law affords easy means of prevent- 
ing the lapse of estates of the latter class, by permitting sales to per- 
sons who have direct heirs, and by affording facilities for the con- 
version of Yakuf into fee-simple titles. Private property, called 
MulJch^ is held by a tenure equivalent to our freehold tenure, by a 
title acquired directly from the Government, and registered in the 
o\vner's name. A law recently enacted permits the owner of a 
mulkh selhng it to reserve a perpetual charge upon it, which is called 
a Gedilc, and is, in effect, a sort of mortgage. The domain lands are 
Miri, or lands appropriated to the State Treasury, unoccupied or 
waste lands, escheated or forfeited lands, the domains and lands as- 
signed to the Sultan, his family, and various offices and officers, and 
the military fiefs. The tenure of the last has been aboHshed, and 
nearly all the lands formerly held by it have passed to the Govern- 
ment. Under recent enactments, the transfer of landed property is 
simple and expeditious ; the evidence of it can be made by the 
registry as secure as in any other country, and the purchaser can in 
most cases, where he finds the title complicated, receive a fresh one 
from the Government. Previous to 1867, foreigners purchasing 
land in Turkey had to hold it in the name of some Ottoman subject, 
but a law passed in that year gave them the right to hold in their 



ii6 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



own names. The proprietors of estates are usually non-resident, 
and cultivate their lands through tenants, to whom they are let 
usually on the metayer system, or on shares. The tenant often be- 
comes indebted to his landlord for borrowed money. As he is never 
able to pay the debt, and the landlord can not afford to discharge 
him and lose the capital represented by the debt, he becomes prac- 
tically a fixture on the estate, and goes with it to a new purchaser, 
who is expected to take over the debts. The tenant is thus in the 
position of, being able to compel the landlord to support him, 
whether he be a profitable occupant of the land or not. As the 
landlord has in addition to supply grazing for ten animals for each 
tenant, the advantages would seem to be on the side of the latter ; 
yet very few of the rayahs, or tenants, are well-off. 

The taxes in Turkey are of several kinds. First, is the tithe, or 
tax of one-tenth on all the agricultural produce of the country. 
The collection of the tithes is farmed out, or sold annually to the 
highest bidder. The first purchaser of the privilege will often sell 
his right to others at a profit, and they may sell again at a profit. 
The Government receives comparatively little revenue from this 
source, while the farmers of the tithes are enriched. The amount 
of the tithes is not oppressive, but the people deem it a grievance 
that worthless speculators should thrive so well at their expense 
with so little profit to the country. They are, moreover, subjected 
to inconveniences and delays and hinderances growing out of the 
method in which the tithes are collected, by means of which they 
are likely to suffer considerable losses. The Yerghi^ which is 
known by different names in different districts, is fixed at a certain 
amount for every province, and is imposed in various forms, some- 
times as a property-tax, sometimes as an income-tax, sometimes as a 
house or a capitation-tax. The Bedel is a tax paid by non-Mussul- 
man subjects of the Porte in consideration of their exemption from 
military service. The principle on which it is levied is not uniform, 
but generally has some reference to the population of the district. 
The Sayme and another tax paid in butter and cheese are assessed 
upon goats, sheep, cattle, and swine. 

The customs duties are levied in accordance with a tariff on cer- 
tain articles of merchandise, and include, in all cases, an additional 
charge of eight per cent, on imports and one of one per cent, on 
exports. A duty of eight per cent, was formerly levied on articles 



CONDITION OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE, 



117 



of native produce passing from one port of the country to another, 
but it has been abohshed. 

The Turkish army is recruited by conscription, for which until 
recently only Mohammedans were liable. Christians having been 
admitted to the army only since 1876. The whole, even of the Mo- 
hammedan population, is, however, not available for ordinary serv- 
ice. About a milhon, constituting the population of Constantino- 
ple and other cities, escape on one ground of privilege or another ; 
about three millions, constituting the nomad tribes, are not amenable 
to conscription ; the Mussulmans in Crete can not be spared from the 
island for fear of risings of the Greeks. It is estimated that by 
reason of the various exemptions, about one-third of the Mohamme- 
dans escape the conscription, leaving only about twelve millions as the 
total population from whom the draft must be made. The military 
forces are divided into three classes of troops, called the active army 
or ^s'izam, the reserve or Redif, and the sedentaiy army or Musta- 
phiz. Soldiers in the active army, after four years of service, may 
return to theii' homes and are free to marry, but are still liable to be 
called to their regiments for two years' longer service. After six 
years they pass to the reserve, where they serve three years in the 
first ban. and three years in the second ban. The soldiers of the re- 
seiwe are called out to drill for one month in every year. After 
twelve years of service in the active army and the reserve, the sol- 
dier passes to the sedentary army, where he is enrolled for eight 
years longer, but is called out only in case of war. According to the 
estimates of 1876, the active army, or ^izam, consisted of 210,000 men, 
of whom 150,000 were in actual service and 60,000 were fm-loughed ; 
the reserve, or Redif, of 192,000 men, of whom half were in the 
first and half in the second ban ; and the sedentary army, of about 
300,000 men, giving in all a force of Y02,000 men. The actual 
available force of the Empire was, however, probably not more than 
about 460,000 men. For the pm-poses of the reserve force, the 
military population are divided iuto one hundred and twenty bat- 
talion districts, in each of which a battalion of each ban is organized, 
giving in all two hundred and forty battalions. Soldiers di-afted in- 
to the active army may be relieved by payment of a commutation. 
The active army is organized, including the corps of Yemen, in 
Arabia, into seven corps, into which the additional forces from the 
reserve are embodied when they are di'awn upon. 



Ii8 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



111 addition to its regular forces, the Government has organized 
irregular troops, called Bashi-Bazouks, contingents from the Circas- 
sians settled in Turkey, and Tartars from the Crimea, Spahi-squad- 
rons, Kurds, and Bedouins, all of which are under the loosest 
discipline. The Bashi-Bazouks are recruited principally in the 
Asiatic and African provinces. In times of war they form a con- 
siderable part of the effective force, being attracted to the army by 
the prospect of booty. In the last war with Russia they numbered 
8,000 foot and 16,000 horse. Having no settled home, they are 
genuine vagabonds. The conspicuous part which they have played 
in the present war, justifies the insertion of the following descrip- 
tion of them by one of the correspondents from the seat of war : 

The Bashi-Bazouk is commonly ill-mounted ; very few of them, 
except recruits from Syria, riding horses that show any trace of bl.ood. 
Their horses are always kept bridled, even when eating their food. 
The saddles are of one pattern, but the bridles are as various as their 
owners' tastes. Some riders prefer halters. The men are from all 
parts of the Turkish Empire — Kurds, Albanians, and Arnauts pre- 
dominating among them. Their clothing may be rich or may be rags. 
It may be also of shades of dinginess, or every variety of vivid 
colors. An enormous shawl or girdle around the waist is universal. 
They have the merited reputation of being the greatest pillagers in 
the world, and this girdle is the hiding-place and receptacle of their 
booty. Their bodies have sometimes been found with gold to the 
value of a thousand or eighteen hundred dollars hidden in its folds. 
They are not hard to discipline as to military maneuvers, but they 
baffle every attempt to put any restraint upon them after they break 
ranks. During the Crimean war no punishment would keep them 
from insulting, striking, and wantonly bayoneting English soldiers 
whom they met in public places. Their bitterest hatred is for Rus- 
sians ; their sweetest hope the plunder of Moscow. Their officers 
can animate them to fury with that word, which is received by 
shouts (with their hands upon the pistols in their belts), of the Arab 
word for Let us hope it — Inskallah ! " Their arms are rude and 
various. They depend upon the Government they serve for a dis- 
tribution of lances and carbines, but every man carries his own yat- 
taghan^ and has two, three, or four enormous pistols." 

The Spahis, though likewise free and irregular, form a more re- 
spectable order, and consider themselves a kind of aristocracy among 
the troops of this class. They are mostly recruited from the older 



CONDITION OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 



119 



Mohammedan families of Bosnia, Turkish Croatia, and Bulgaria. 
They have a picturesque appearance, but will not submit to dis- 
cipline, nor are they fit to operate in a regular campaign against 
a disciplined army. They are employed chiefly in guerrilla service 
in the mountain districts, or anywhere that personal daring is of 
more value than subjection to rule and the command of an officer. 

The Bedouins and Kurds are free at home, acknowledging only a 
nominal allegiance to the Empire, and a close allegiance only to their 
own chiefs. They are likewise free in the army ; contented to stay 
so long as they are allowed to fight and plunder without restraint, 
but ready to fold their tents and march away whenever any attempt 
is made to exercise discipline over them. 

The Turkish navy consisted, at the end of 18Y5, of twenty iron- 
clad ships and seventy other steamers, mth four steam transports. 
Three of the iron-clads were considered vessels of extraordinary size 
and strength. The navy is manned by thirty thousand soldiers and 
four thousand marines, recruited by conscription or voluntary enlist- 
ment, who serve for eight years. 

The Sultan has the right to call upon Egypt and Tunis for con- 
tingents of troops. The Egyptian army consists of about tAventy 
thousand men of various branches of the service, and the navy of 
two frigates, two corvettes, three large yachts, and four gun-boats. 
The army of Tunis consists of 4,600 regular and 11,500 irregular 
troops, and its navy of three small armed vessels, one transport, and 
two monitors in course of construction. 

The financial condition of Turkey is really desperate. For nearly 
thirty years the expenditures of the Government have exceeded tlie 
revenues by between thirty- five and forty millions of dollars. Loan 
after loan has been borrowed, defaults have been made in payment 
of interest, and the credit of the* Government is at the lowest stage. 
The foreign debt is represented by fourteen loans, contracted be- 
tween 1854 and 1874, amounting in the aggregate to 184,981,783 
pounds sterling, and the internal and floating debt is variously esti- 
mated at from nine million to thirty million pounds sterling, or five 
times as many dollars. The Turkish Government in effect an- 
nounced its bankruptcy in October, 1875, when it gave notice that 
the payments of interest upon the debt would be reduced for five 
years to one-half the stipulated amount. It confessed in the decree 
which conveyed this notice that it had been in the habit of making 
new loans to pay the coupons on the old ones, but could do this no 



120 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



longer. It had, therefore, to make a temporary reduction of inter- 
est, on the plan of paying one-haK wholly in cash, and providing for 
the other half by the issue of fresh securities bearing five per cent, 
interest, payable simultaneously with the cash half of the original 
coupon falling due. If at the expiration of five years the bonds 
representing the second half of the coupons should not have been 
redeemed, the payment of them would be further delayed until the 
foreign loan following next in order for redemption should be ex- 
tinguished. Default was made in the payment of the cash interest 
promised under this arrangement, and a further announcement was 
made in July, 1876, that no payments would be made until the in- 
ternal affairs of the Empire had been settled. The Government 
was out of money, and, of course, could not borrow. It provided 
for its wants by an issue of paper money. The first issue was fixed 
at three million Turkish pounds, but in four months more than 
twice that amount had been put into circulation. 

The character and bearing of the views of the Turkish leaders of 
opinion have undergone considerable modifications within the pres- 
ent century. The Turks of the old school, bigoted, fixedly attached 
to the old ways, and who would tolerate no change whatever, dis- 
appeared as a force in the State when the Janizaries were abolished 
in 1826. A few of this stamp remain, but not enough to form a 
party. The change in the conditions of the Empire and in its rela- 
tions to other States have brought a new class of men to the front, 
who seek to meet the emergencies of the times with new views and 
new ways of management. They are still, however, steadily at- 
tached to the past, and still seek to adhere to the old traditions and 
usages, only consenting to change or adapt them so much as may be 
necessary for the preservation of the State in its integrity and inde- 
pendence. The prominent Turks of the present day are classified 
into two parties, called respectively the Old Turks and the Young 
Turks. The Old Turkish party seeks to restore as much as is possi- 
ble of the old patriarchal condition of the East, and to maintain it 
with all the means at command. Among its objects it seeks to pre- 
serve the ancient usages and regulations with reference to women, 
and has so far succeeded in preventing any alterations in them. It 
insists especially on avoiding all entanglements with foreigners, even 
to the extent of setting limitations upon the trade with foreign coun- 
tries. "With this object — and on this point it has shown considerable 
worldly wisdom — it advocates and supports those measures, which will 



BASHI-BAZOUKS. 




KURDS. 



CONDITION OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 



123 



content the Christian populations ; for it has been learned by expe- 
rience that every oppression of the Christians leads directly to a 
complication with some one or other of the European powers. One 
of the most prominent members of the Old Turkish party was the 
late Grand Yizier, Ali Pasha, who was dispatched to Crete at the 
time of the insurrection there in 186Y, and addressed a memorandum 
to the Porte recommending reforms, which is pointed to as contain- 
ing one of the best expositions of the principles of his party. Ill 
this paper he showed that the principles of the Treaty of Paris, 
which were supposed to have prevented all danger of foreign inter- 
ference in the affairs of the Empire, had ceased to be effective and 
could no longer protect it. A new doctrine of government had been 
set up and acted upon, which recognized the rights of peoples to be 
arranged under governments according to their race and national 
affinities, which would be used to the disadvantage of Turkey and 
for the advancement of the designs of Russia. 

The Russian Government had not given up its designs upon the 
East ; it would not now carry them out by war, for it had found a 
better way ; it would excite discontent among the Christian popula- 
tion of the principalities, and while assuring the other powers that 
it was seeking to promote the welfare of its fellow-Christians, would 
seek to dismember Turkey by the operation of internal dissension. 
If such a condition as the one which then prevailed in Crete were 
produced, and continued, the powers would sympathize with the 
professions of Russia, while Turkey would be entirely isolated, and 
would be compelled " to hold those persons who are most necessary 
and most useful for the reproduction and agriculture of the nation 
under arms, and to appropriate its entire income to this object, so 
that not a penny would be left us for the culture of the land, nor a 
minute for working out good laws for the weal of the State and the 
nation ; and thus our enemy would hasten the attainment of his de- 
structive purpose; for it is evident that the . Mohammedan popu- 
lation, which alone furnishes troops, could not long endure this 
condition ; that the treasury could quite as little bear to have all its 
income turned to unproductive ends, and that the host of ten mil- 
lions of subjects, who heartily desired to rise and be free, w^ould not 
remain long in obedience and subjection." 

A remedy for these difficulties and dangers could be found if the 
Government would grant to its non-Mohammedan subjects an en- 
largement of their opportunities for culture, of their sphere of 
7 



124 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



action, and of their privileges, so that thej could find at home what 
they now had to seek abroad, and that thev should "not see any- 
thing to envy in the situation of the subjects of foreign States, and 
should learn to regard themselves no longer as subjugated by an 
Ismaelitish State, but as servants and subjects of a superior mon- 
archy, which protected all alike." Three specific measures were 
proposed as likely to produce this result directly; that all the 
offices and public positions in the State be thro^vn open to all alike, 
so that Christians should find all the bars to promotion removed 
from before them ; that schools be established and thoroughly organ- 
ized, in which the children of Mohammedans and Christians should 
be instructed together, and Greeks should no longer have to send 
their children to Greece, and Bulgarians to Russia, to learn princi- 
ples of hostility to the Ottoman Empire; and that mixed civil 
com'ts be established, with a code for the trial of all mixed suits. 

In fine," said this remarkable memorandum, " the fusion of all 
our subjects, except as to purely rehgious afiairs, is the only means 
by which we can overcome the jealousy between our different 
populations and avoid the dangers that threaten us." 

The representatives of the Old Turkish party are, with few ex- 
ceptions, men of high character and standing. The " Toung Tm-k- 
ish " party is composed of young men who have been educated 
abroad or under European teachers, and have cast off the religious 
prejudices and authority of their fathers, and who have acquii'ed 
enough of the superficialities of French culture to unsettle them in 
their old principles without their having imbibed any of the funda- 
mental principles of European knowledge and life. The serious 
idea on which the party rests is that the prosperity of the Empire 
and the operation of the measures Avhich are necessary to restore it 
to a sound condition are hindered by the too rigorous traditional 
constructions which are placed upon the religious law, and it has 
sought to obtain from the doctors authoritative determinations and 
modifications of the law better adapted to the present exigencies. 
Some of the Young Turks have regarded the reigning dynasty as an 
insurmountable barrier to the regeneration of the Empire. The 
party arose about twelve or fifteen years ago, in an opposition to the 
administration of Ali Pasha, at a period when the Government was 
contracting large loans and spending extravagantly, and after the 
hopes which had been awakened upon the accession of Abdul Med- 
jid had been dispelled. The increasing number of appointments 



CONDITION OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 



125 



of Christians to offices in the service of the State especially excited 
its animadversion, and gave occasion to the publication, in the 
journals which were started in Yonng Turkish interests, of numer- 
ous articles breathing the most intense hostility to the Christians 
and sounding the praises of the Ottoman Empire, its power and its 
glories. Equally with the " Old Turks," the " Young Turks " shun 
entanglements with Europe, and seek to prevent the introduction of 
European notions ; but they go about their work in a different man- 
ner and with a different spirit. 

The party has never been very numerous, and its life has been 
rather social than political, its political objects only occasionally rising 
to the surface. Its representative men are described as being 
polished and prepossessing in their manners and appearance, but 
many of them crafty, untrustworthy, and without the sense of per- 
sonal honor or principle. The leaders have once or twice come 
under the displeasure of the Government for excess in their mani- 
festations, and have been subjected to voluntary or involuntary 
exile. All of them who were under punishment were pardoned by 
Abdul Hamid, and allowed to return to the capital, where, all the 
political questions about which they had contended having been 
settled, it was thought they would not be likely to do harm, but 
might be of service in exciting the fanaticism of the people against 
the foreign enemy. Both parties participated in the deposition of 
the Sultan Abdul Aziz. Of the leaders in that movement, Midhat 
Pasha and Zia Bey were ranked as Young Turks. Hussein Avni 
Pasha and Mehemet Eushdi Pasha as Old Turks. The principal 
advisers of the Sultan Mm-ad were Young Turks, and to them is 
due the promulgation of the Constitution of Midhat Pasha. The 
Government which succeeded that of Midhat Pasha was under Old 
Turkish influences. The most prominent upholders of the consti- 
tutional principle in Midhat Pasha's cabinet were sent away after its 
accession, one to be Governor of Syria, one to retirement, one to 
prison, and Midhat himseK to exile. 

The Turks in Europe are of a mixed race, and present a variety of 
physical traits according to the nationality whose blood they share, 
hardly any of which can be considered distinctive. Generally they are 
characterized by a strange expression of the eyes, lankness of the 
limbs, and in the cities by colorlessness of the skin. The Asiatic 
Turks have well-shapen heads, black or brown hair, flne forms, and 
a calm, placid expression of countenance. Both Asiatics and Euro- 



126 



777^ IVAR IN THE EAST. 



peans are eminently pious, and observe strictly all the requisitions of 
the Mohammedan ritual with regard to worship, prayer, fasts, alms, 
and other acts of ceremonial and worship. They set a high value upon 
the privilege of pilgrimage, and hold the Koran in such respect as 
to ascribe the working of wonders to the mere reading of it. Their 
other characteristics will be revealed in the course of our history. 

The style of dress in Turkey has been greatly modified by the 
adoption of European fashions. The old Turkish turban was a 
woolen cloth wound around the fez, and was worn green by Moham- 
medans, black or blue by Christians and Jews. The cloth is now 
dispensed with, and the fez is generally worn alone. The trousers 
were distinguished by their excessive fullness. The upper part of 
the body was dressed in a vest or jacket called the Anteri, and the 
Dolman, or Chekman^ with pendant, slitten sleeves, which was gen- 
erally red and embroidered with braidings of golden yellow silk. 
Over all was worn the Benish^ or cloth coat. In the harem the 
Turk wore a dressing-gown with a long robe (the Kush) over it, 
with socks and morocco shoes, or half boots. In modern times, 
the Turks in the higher ranks around Constantinople will be 
found dressed in a correct European costume, except that they ad- 
here to the picturesque and pleasant fez, instead of adopting the 
European tall hat. The women wear a red or yellow shirt, reach- 
ing to the knees, under which are worn full and gathered trou- 
sers, a long overdress which is gathered at the waist by a shawl, 
woolen hose and slippers. On their heads they wear a fez or little 
cap, and on the street a white cloth, the Yashmak^ which covering 
the head leaves the eyes free ; further, the whole face is concealed 
by an ugly mantle called the Fereye. 

Turkish houses present a blank wall to the street, with no window 
or other opening except the entrance- way. This leads to a court- 
yard, which is really the front of the house. The rooms are built 
around it, in such a way as to leave the women's quarters in a seclud- 
ed position and separated from the rest of the house. The court-yard 
is beautified, and the house furnished with comforts and luxuries 
according to the means of the owner ; there may be none, or they 
may be-^as they generally are with wealthy Turks — in excess. The 
street appearance of the house gives no clue to what is inside of it. 
The roughest and most forbidding mud wall in appearance may be 
the shell of a palace, exhibiting the highest degree of splendor in- 
side, or the interior may be nearly as rude and meagre as the outside. 



CHAPTER YI. 



THE TRIUrTAET STATES AND THE STIBJECT PEOPLES OF TUKKEY. 

Eumania — Union of the Principalities of Molda\ia and Wallacliia into one State— Edu- 
cation, Literature, Army, and Finances — Characteristics of the People, their Dress 
and Manner of Living — Servia — Its History and Present Condition — The Omladina — 
The Servian Church — Dress, Customs, and Domestic Usages — Bosnia and Herzego- 
vina — The Bulgarians — They Regain the Autonomy of their National Church — Prog- 
ress of Education — Circassian Colonies in Bulgaria — Montenegro — Sketch of its 
History— The Albanians— The Miridites— The Greeks of Turkey— The Districts in 
vrhich they Predominate — Their Control of Turkish Commerce — Greeks in Asia 
Minor — Crete — The Armenians — Maronites — Druses — Egypt — Its Advance toward 
Independence — The Suez Canal and other Works of Improvement — Tripoli and 
Tunis. 

The European tributary States of Turkey at the beginning of 
187Y were Eumania and Servia. The principality of Rumania is 
composed of the former provinces or principalities of Moldavia and 
"Wallachia. It has an area of 45,642 square miles, and a population 
of 3,864,848. The principality lies entirely north of the Danube, 
and presents an irregular figure, whose shape may be compared to 
that of a piece of a quarter of an apple with the core taken out. 
The sharp curve of the Carpathian Mountains and Transylvanian 
Highlands entering from the north and west to the center of the 
figure the State would present were its shape s^mametrical, may 
represent the line formed by cutting out the core. Wallachia, the 
southern province of the principality, lies between the Danube and 
the Transylvanian Highlands, touching Servia on the west, and pre- 
sents its greatest length from east to west. Moldavia, lying between 
the Carpathians and the river Pruth, presents its greatest length from 
north to south, touching on the north the country which was once 
Poland. A narrow strip of country, extending north and east from 
the Danube and Pruth, gives the principality a small frontage on the 
Black Sea. The mountains on the north and west separate Rumania 
from Austria-Hungary, and the Pruth separates it from Russia, but 
neither mountains nor river separate Rumanians from Rumanians ; 
for a large proportion of the population in Austrian Transylvania 
and Bukowina, and Russian Bessarabia are of this stock. 

(127) 



128 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The inhabitants of the predominant race are commonly called 
Wallachs, or more recently Eumanians. They are a mixed people, 
combining the blood of the ancient Dacians, a branch of the Thra- 
cian stock, with that of the Koman colonists, who were settled in 
the province of Dacia after its conquest by Trajan, mingled with 
that of the various races and tribes which have overrun the country 
from the days of the Eoman dominion down to the present time. 
By the treaties of Adrianople and Paris, the two principalities of 
Moldavia and Waliachia, commonly called the Danubian principali- 
ties, acquired a condition of semi-independence, by which they 
gained control of their own internal administrations, while they paid 
a tribute to Turkey. In 1859, they effected a substantial union by 
choosing the same person as Hospodar, or Prince. 

The union has been gradually made closer, and has been recog- 
nized by the G-reat Powers and by Turkey. The government of 
the principality is a constitutional monarchy, with representative 
chambers and a responsible ministry. The present prince is Charles 
of HohenzoUern-Sigmaringen, who has assumed the title of Charles 
I. The people speak a language more like the Latin than any 
other modern tongue, and have some physical and mental character- 
istics which they may have derived from the ancient Romans, along 
with the language and name of that people. They are generally 
attached to the Greek Church, and are fai-mers, practicing the 
rudest methods in agricultm-e. Education is in a low state. A 
compulsory school law exists, but the schools are few and thinly 
attended. In 1875 there were four thousand teachers and fifty-five 
thousand pupils in all the schools, and the higher education was 
represented by twenty-two high-schools of different grades, a larger 
number of theological, technical, and private schools, and the two 
Universities of Bucharest and Jassy. The Wallachs have a small 
literatm'e, the oldest specimen of which is a historical fragment of 
the date of 1495. The f oUo^ving century produced some theological 
literature, but the Bible was not translated into their language till 
1643. Eecently a number of learned and poetical works have been 
produced, some of the latter of which have been considerably ad- 
mired. Political discussions have been active during the present 
century, leading to the establishment of several newspapers, and 
the production of minor works of a political character. The prin- 
cipality has a number of contemporary poets and writers of ro- 
mances, who, however, have not commanded any great fame abroad. 



TURKE TS TRIE UTAR Y STA TES AND S UB JECTS. 1 29 

The Eumanian army consists of 22,463 infantry and 12,184 cavalry. 
The revenues of the principality in 1876 were 97,894,427 francs, its 
expenditures were 97,891,427 francs, and its debt on Jan. 1, 1877, 
was 515,841,278 francs, or about one hundred million dollars. 

The typical Rumanian is a man of slender stature and symmetri- 
cal shape, and has a brown oval face, not unhandsome, and often 
with nohle features. His eyes are dark and expressive. His 
mouth is well cut, filled with showy white teeth, and shaded with 
a mustache. The fuU beard is seldom worn, being in this, as in the 
other principalities, peculiar to the priests. The man takes much 
pride in his long hair, hanging down over his shoulders. The 
hands and feet are small and neatly formed. The women are quite 
handsome. 

K. E. Franzos says of them in his " Half Asia" '^i " The Euma- 
nian girl reaches her full bodily development in her thirteenth or 
fourteenth, at most in her fifteenth year ; and she presents often 
a handsome, elegant figure. The Roman type, although partly 
obliterated by marriages with the Slavs, is manifested in the well- 
developed nose, in the fine and sharply-defined mouth, in the black, 
shining hair, in the peculiar, but not unpleasant, bronze tint of the 
countenance. If you observe her in her gala-dress, with her 
chemisette of linen, adorned with artistic embroidery, with the 
national frock cut out of a single piece, which, fastened by a girdle 
at her waist, swells over her hips in thick folds, and falls to her 
ankles, with the light, tunic-like, generally blue mantle ; if you 
listen to her conversation, which will remind you in almost every 
word of the speech of ancient Rome— it will not require the exer- 
cise of much imagination to think that you are in the presence of a 
Roman peasant-girl of the time of Cicero." 

The men wear over linen breeches, a white, wide-sleeved shirt, 
open at the breast, and falling nearly to the knees. It is confined 
at the waist by a broad leathern band, in which are worn the knife, 
pipe, flint and steel, tobacco-pouch and wallet. Over the shoulders 
is worn a jacket of sheepskin, with the wool outside ; a longer cloak, 
also of sheepskin, is worn in many places in the winter. Sandals,, 
similar to those of the Romans, are worn on the feet in pleasant 
weather, but in wet weather their place is supplied by boots reach- 
ing up to the knee. A broad-brimmed straw hat is worn on the 
head in summer, a sheepskin cap in winter. On festive occasions^ 



* "Halb Asien," Leipsic, 1876. 



130 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



the well-to-do Wallacli completes liis costume by a doublet fanci- 
fully embroidered, wliich lends to his dress a decidedly Eomanesqiie 
appearance. 

The houses of the Wallachian peasants are wooden buildings, 
thatched with straw, often only of a single story, but where there 
are two stories, with the upper story surrounded with a veranda. 
In poorly-wooded districts the dwellings are often dug out of the 
ground, and covered with an earthen roof. In the regions exposed 
to the overflow of the Danube, the houses often consist of rude 
timber huts, placed upon four stakes, so as to be lifted above the 
reach of the floods. 

The aristocracy of Rumania are called Boyars. They are the 
modern representatives of the ancient aristocracy of the land, and 
date, according to one authority,* from the time when every one 
who bore a weapon had a right to rank himself in that class. The 
name originated among the descendants of the Roman colonists in 
the eighth and ninth centuries, when the warrior who went into 
battle with a scythe-chariot, drawn by oxen, was designated as a 
hovis herus, or Boyar, the same as those who went with horses 
were called cavalli heri^ or cavaliers. Others derive the title from 
Bulgar, Bulgarian. f Among the original privileges of a Boyar was 
exemption from taxes. The title and its privileges were personal, 
and did not descend. At a later period the title was given to the 
holders of certain offices, and once given was continued for life, 
even though the term of official service were but one year. Under 
Turkish rule it became a matter of sale. Under the present Gov- 
ernment it is given, according to a regular system, as a symbol of 
rank and office. The Boyars are now of two ranks, the great and 
small Boyars. The total number of Boyar families of both ranks 
in the two provinces forming the principality was 6,000 in 1865. 
The Boyars live like other European aristocracy, so far as their 
means permit them, and copy French fashions and French manners 
to such an extent that they have made Jassy and Bucharest " the 
city of pleasure," to be among the gayest capitals of Europe. 

The principality of Servia is the relic of what was a considerable 
State in the middle ages, but which became subject to the Turks 
after the battle of Kosovo, in 1389. The Servians proved to be 
discontented subjects, and gave the Turks much trouble. They 

* Hellwald and Beck— "Die Heutige Turkei," I., 133. 
t Franzos, Allgemeine Zeitung^ Oct. 34, 35, and 36, 1877. 




CHARLES I. — PRINCE OF RUMANIA. 




MILAN -PRINCE OF SERVIA. 



TURKEY'S TRIBUTARY STATES AND SUBJECTS. 133 

gained a condition of semi-independence in 1811, and have retained 
it, except for a sliort interval during the wars of Napoleon, to the 
present time. The maintenance of all the privileges which had been 
gained by both Servia and Eumania was guaranteed by the great 
powers in the Treaty of Paris in 1856, but Turkey retained the right 
to keep garrisons in certain of the Servian forts. The principality 
has been ruled by the families of the Karageorgevitch and Obreno- 
vitch, between whom a bitter rivalry exists. The present ruler is 
Prince Milan Obrenovitch lY., who was enthroned in 1868. The Gov- 
ernment is a constitutional monarchy, with a representative chamber, 
called the Skupstchina, and a responsible ministry. 

Servia has an area of about 16,600 square miles, and a population of 
1,320,000. It .has made great advances in civilization within the last 
ten years, particularly in the building of roads and in education. 
Until 18Y6 it had no debt, but a balance in the treasury. In that 
year it borrowed a small loan to enable it to carry on the war against 
Turkey. Its standing army consists of four thousand men, and its en- 
tire mihtary strength is rated at about seventy thousand men. Educa- 
tion is provided for in a public school system, under the control of the 
Minister of Education, which embraces primary schools, academical 
and collegiate schools, a normal school, a high-school at Belgrade, and 
special and professional schools. The Servians have a hterature in 
which they take pride. Their old literature, which is in the old 
Slavic or Church language, dates back to the eleventh century, and 
is rich in songs and ballads. Their modern literature is also quite 
copious and creditable, and dates from the eighteenth century. The 
secret society called the Omladina was originally formed for the 
purpose of cultivating the national literature, but it has been con- 
verted into a political organization, and is the most steady and influ- 
ential promoter of the agitations for securing the complete independ- 
ence of the country. 

The G-reek Church is established, but religious freedom prevails 
under the restriction that no one is permitted to leave the Holy 
Orthodox Church to join another. The religious and spiritual life 
is wholly under the influence of the cloisters, from which the Metro- 
politan and the Bishops are appointed. The Archbishop of Bel- 
grade is head of the Church, is independent of the Patriarch of Con- 
stantinople, and has under him the three bishops of Shabatz, Ushitza, 
and Negotin, who with him constitute the IS^ational Synod. The 
clergy consist of seven hundred worldly priests, and one hundred and 



134 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



twenty priests in the cloisters. The number of cloisters was forty-one 
in 18T5 ; but by an order passed in that year they are to be reduced 
to five. 

The Servians have sharply- defined faces and robust bodies, are 
rather large than small in stature, broad-shouldered, but seldom gross. 
They have well-proportioned heads, with rather high crowns, well- 
shaped foreheads, somewhat prominent cheek-bones, medium-sized 
noses, which are generally straight, but sometimes repressed, and 
are very often finely developed. Their hair is generally blonde or 
brown, and luxuriant in growth. The men commonly wear their 
hair cut short, long hair and the full-beard being left to the priest- 
hood. The people in the cities sometimes wear side- whiskers, but 
the peasant wears only a mustache. The ladies in the to\vns set a 
high value on black hair, and are not loath to use dyes to get it. 

The women are of medium size, and have regular features without 
being handsome, although very fine, faultless faces are often met 
with in the cities. The women are, as a rule, better-looking than 
their sisters in Montenegro, but the men lack the lightness and elas- 
ticity of movement which characterize the warhke mountaineers. 
The dress of the Servians varies greatly in difi'erent districts, and 
often in diiferent neighborhoods. In the country, garments of fold- 
ed white linen, a colored belt and brown or light-colored woolen 
outside coats, are worn extensively by both sexes. The Servian 
peasant wears, in summer, large breeches reaching in full folds to 
the ankles, over which is a woolen shirt open at the breast, and held 
in at the waist by a red cloth belt. Over the belt he wears a brown 
leathern girdle, in which he carries a pistol or two, a brass gun-stick, 
a dagger and a handkerchief, and a cartridge-box. On his right 
side hang a short knife in a leather sheath, a flint and steel, and an 
oil-box. If the man is going away to any distance, he puts on a 
short, striped vest, and over it a thick, braided woolen jacket, and 
completes his armor by adding a long Albanian flint-lock, or a more 
modern improved gun, if he has one. On his head he wears a low, 
red fez, with or without a tassel, and on his feet dark, knit hose and 
sandals of un tanned leather. 

In "Western Servia, the peasants commonly wear wide, slit breeches 
of brown cloth, which are narrowed like gaiters just below the knees. 
In the south, some Albanian fashions are adopted, such as the band- 
age of white cloth around the fez, the short brown or black jacket, 
with slitten sleeves, and the broad red cloak for rainy weather. The 



1 



TURKEY'S TRIBUTARY STATES AND SUBJECTS. 135 

sheepskin cap of the Bulgarians is worn in the south-east, and Eu- 
manian fashions prevail in the east. 

The dress of the merchants and official people in the cities, when 
it has not been modified bj European styles, is very rich. The 
breeches are cut in the Turkish fashion, of blue cloth, and embroi- 
dered with black braid. The red vest is richly braided with gold- 
thread, the winter coat is bordered with fur, and a variously-striped 
shawl, several yards in length, woven of yam, cashmere, or silk, is 
worn as a gu'dle. The arms and other articles of dress and ornament 
are enriched in a corresponding degree. 

The principal variations in the costumes of the women are in the 
head-dresses. Flowers, pieces of gold or silver, to which the women 
of the cities . add a small fez, arranged in a great variety of ways, 
form the principal parts of the head-di'esses of girls. The women 
wear diadems, helmets, or similar designs, which are trimmed with 
metallic pieces, feathers, or other ornaments, and are crowned, in the 
cities, with a fez sm*rounded with a switch of hair. The costume of 
the peasant women is in other respects very simple. The most im- 
portant article is the shirt, of home-made stuff, reaching from the 
neck to the ankles, and embroidered with wool in front and on the 
arms and sleeves. Two striped aprons, worn in front and behind a 
belt, and often a short jacket open in front, with the shirt, make up 
the home dress. The overdress, which is seldom worn in the house, 
is a sleeveless coat of white cloth, varied with stripes, rosettes, and 
other designs. The feet are clothed with colored stockings and san- 
dals. The pictnresqueness of the costume is enhanced not only by 
the fanciful head-dress, but also by the many other ornaments which 
women know how to use with effect. 

The women of the cities combine the Oriental and Western fash- 
ions in their dress. An embroidered shirt and neckerchief cover the 
bust, and are revealed, with the accompanying nosegay or golden pin, 
through the open front of the sack. A heavy brocade sash is thrown 
aronnd the waist, and hangs with richly-ornamented ends in front of 
the colored silken dress, which is made in the Em-opean style. An 
embroidered pocket-handkerchief, a fan, a bouquet, wide bracelets, 
a necklace of pearls or gold, and the usual rings, complete a picture, 
whose beauty is, however, sadly marred by the senseless fashion'of 
dyeing the hair and staining the eyebrows and lips. 

The Servian country-houses are structures of timber- work, or consist 
of a lower story of stone and an upper story of wood, surmounted 



136 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



often witli a veiy liigli roof of thatch or tiles. They are rather 
scantily furnished in the interior, where the weapons of the head of 
the family occupy the place of honor among the household ornaments. 
The windows are seldom fui-nished with glass, but paper in wooden 
frames is made to supply its place. On the larger estates the house 
of the head of the family, which serves also as the dwelling of the 
unmarried members of the household, is suiTounded by the smaller 
houses of the married members. These consist generally only of a 
bed-room, the main hall affording living-room and dining-room for 
the whole family. The whole group of buildings, including also the 
granaries of basket-work set up on stakes, is surrounded by a fence 
of pickets. The Servian character is distinguished by strong family 
affection, patriotism, and love of freedom, and an inclination to mys- 
ticism. The family life is conducted after the patriarchal style. The 
liead of the household presides over the whole cii'cle of relatives and 
dependents, adjusts then- differences, regulates their labors, superin- 
tends the di^dsion of the proceeds, and cares for all as for himself. 
When he dies his son takes his place, or if he declines the responsi- 
bility, some one else is chosen in his stead. All the members of the 
household are united by common interest, and when any one goes 
away from the estate he is entitled to receive a commutation propor- 
tioned to the amount he has contributed by his services to the gen- 
eral weal. While the condition of the women is subordinate, the 
depth of the affection which exists between brother and sister, and 
the esteem in which it is held, form one of the most peculiar and 
creditable traits of the Servian character. So firmly-seated and 
widely-extended and recognized is it, that out of it has grown the 
strongest sanction that a Servian can give to his pledge or his word — 
'■^ As true as my brother (or my sister) lives." Akin to it is the bond 
of brotherhood or sisterhood which two young men or young women 
may take for each other, which is often sanctioned by open and for- 
mal ceremonies, and is held for life. 

The Servians have the qualities of good soldiers, but are withal 
patient and peaceful, honorable, endm-ing, and firm. They are not 
easil} cheated, and are not inclined to cheat. If they believe a thing 
to be right, they will adhere to it, and will suffer legal restraint 
rather than }deld. They are proud, and avoid menial occupations 
and mechanical trades, but are fond of militaiy and ofiicial life, and 
readily enter mercantile callings. Their merchants enjoy a wide 
field of trade. They have houses in Bucharest, Trieste, Pesth, and 



TURKEY'S TRIBUTARY STATES AND SUBJECTS. 137 

Vienna, and visit all the larger fairs of Soutliern Hungary with tlieir 
goods, which consist rather of raw materials than oE manufactured 
articles. 

Bosnia and Bulgaria are former independent kingdoms, which 
have been subjugated by Turkey, and are ruled as Turkish prov- 
inces or vilayets, by Governors appointed by the Porte. The major- 
ity of the people of Bosnia are attached to the Greek Church, but 
the Roman Catholic population is large, and the wealthier classes 
and landowners are generally Mohammedans. The kingdom of 
Bosnia survived that of Servia nearly a hundred years, although it 
had become tributary to Turkey, but was finally overthrown in 1463. 
The King and a number of the Waywodes were put to death, over 
two hundred thousand of the inhabitants of both sexes were sent 
into slavery in Asia Minor, and thirty thousand of the young men 
were enrolled in the corps of the Janizaries. The people, of whom 
the mass remained true to the Greek faith, were despoiled of their 
lands, which were divided among the Mohammedans. An opportu- 
nity was given, however, to the native landowners to save their 
estates by professing the Mohammedan religion, and many of them 
did so. These proprietors were the ancestors of the Mohammedan 
Bosnians, the hegs, or landowners, or agas, if their estates are very 
large, of the present day, who are only in a few instances Turks, 
but are generally Slavs of the same race with the Christian Bosnians. 
Bosnia occupies an isolated position with reference to the rest of 
Turkey. The Christian States of Servia, jutting in from the north 
and Montenegro from the south-west, almost cut it off from the 
other provinces, leaving only the narrow sanjak of ]Sfovi-Bazar as 
a connecting link. The Servian language is spoken through most 
of the province, but the Turkish, as the official language, is some- 
what affected by the more pretentious begs. The country is mount- 
ainous, with broad, fertile valleys. About four-tenths of the land is 
considered tillable, and this part is productive of remunerative crops, 
the best known of which are the " Turkish prunes ; " yet the re- 
sources of the country, which are capable of an extensive develop- 
ment, are almost entirely unimproved. There are but few high- 
ways worthy of the name. The principal means of communication 
are by bridle-paths, with causeways over the swamps that are almost 
as dangerous as the morasses themselves, and dilapidated bridges 
over the streams that offer little choice above fording the waters. 
The country was, before its conquest, provided with good roads, the 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



remains of which may be found in various quarters, and a few of 
the ancient "Roman bridges are still in use. A single railroad has 
been built from Banialuka to Rasnice, and four telegraph lines have 
been completed. 

Bosnia contains several cities of moderate size, the principal of 
which is the capital, Bosna Serai or Serajevo, a handsomely-situated 
and well-appearing town of 45,000 inhabitants, with about two hun- 
dred minarets and mosques and considerable trade. 

The Mohammedan Bosnians live together only in the larger towns, 
where they are engaged in trade, and control most of the commerce 
of the province. The landowners live scattered about on their 
estates, in the broader valleys. The Christians live in the smaller 
villages, and in the higher and less fruitful valleys, and on the table- 
lands. The Bosnians are of fine stature and physical appearance, 
with handsome, expressive features, are pious, brave, and hospitable. 
Bishop Strossmayer characterizes the Mussulman landowners as a 
fine and generous body of men, brave, high-spirited, and resentful 
against wrong ; but truthful, honest, and never, like the Turk, cruel 
in their vengeance. The costume of the Bosnians is like that of the 
Morlaks, a Slavic tribe living in the maritime districts of Austro- 
Hungary, and is marked by variety in color, material, and fashion. 
Polygamy has never gained prevalence among the begs. The women 
go veiled in public, but enjoy at home a freedom and privilege greater 
than those of the Turkish women. The young women are allowed 
to receive attentions from the young men, and the young man who 
contemplates marriage is permitted to spend the evening with his 
betrothed, while she sits concealed from his view by a wall or 
shutter. It is related of the Bosnian women by a Turkish historian 
that when the first captives were taken to the Turkish com't at 
Brussa, before the capture of Constantinople, they appeared to the 
chiefs like living genii from Paradise. 

The education of the people is limited, and science and literature 
have made but little progress among them. In the few schools 
which have been established by the Greeks, Turks, and Bosnians 
themselves, instruction is hardly given beyond reading and writing. 
The Mohammedans have schools for boys, but not for girls. They 
have also higher Koran schools in connection with their more impor- 
tant mosques, and the Roman Catholics have schools at the Francis- 
can monasteries. It is estimated by good authorities that only one 
per cent, of the population can read, hardly any one can write, and 

f 



TURKEY'S TRIBUTARY STATES AND SUBJECTS. 139 

there is not a printing-office in tlie province. Although the Bos- 
nians have no literature of their own, they have a share in the pop- 
ular songs, tales, and fables, in which the Servian folk-lore is pecul- 
iarly rich. 

The Bosnians are discontented, unquiet subjects, and have given 
trouble by frequent insurrections. Even the Mohammedan begs 
have not cast aside tlie ties of country and race. "They have 
never," says Mr. Malcolm MacCall, in his work on " The Eastern 
Question," " forgotten their Christian ancestry ; and in many a Mus- 
sulman household among the valleys of Bosnia and on the slopes of 
the Balkans are fondly cherished traditions and memorials of the 
faith which their forefathers bartered in exchange for the rights of 

freemen The Slav Mussulmans are fanatical, no doubt, but 

it is the fanaticism of caste rather than of religion. Of Islam, in its 
theological and religious aspect, they know little and care less. Let 
the Slav Mussulmans of Bosnia and Bulgaria," he adds, " be con- 
vinced that the abolition of the Turkish rule does not mean the abo- 
lition of their hereditary rights, and they will view the exit of the 
Ottomans not with equanimity merely, but with warm approval." 

The unhappy disposition of the people is chiefly owing to the 
backw^ard state of the country and the inconveniences under which 
it suffers. Prof. Gottfried Kinkel, of Basel, in his lecture on " The 
Christian Subjects of Turkey in Bosnia and Herzegovina," shows 
that they are chiefly due to the unjust distribution of the land, in 
which the actual tiller is not permitted to enjoy any interest of pro- 
prietorship. This author expresses the belief that quiet can never 
be restored to the country until the present system is swept away, 
and a new distribution is made among the actual inhabitants, who 
are also the heirs of the former rightful owners of the soil. 

Herzegovina is geographically, ethnographically, and historically 
connected with Bosnia. It is more mountainous than Bosnia, and 
has a smaller relative area of tillable soil, the amount being three- 
tenths for Herzegovina to four-tenths for Bosnia. In the fifteenth 
century Herzegovina was known as the Bosnian Province of Kosat- 
china. The Prince Stefan Kosatcha, who ruled the province dur- 
ing the reign of the Bosnian King Tomer Ostojiksh Christitch, asked 
and obtained from the German Emperor, Frederick III., the title 
and rank of Duke. From that time the province has borne its 
present name, Herzegovina, derived from the Hungarian word 
Herczeg (German, Herzog), Duke. Under Turkish rule it has been 



140 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



at times, as now, a separate vilajet, and at other times a part of the 
vilayet of Bosnia. The capital and principal city of Herzegovina 
is Mostar, a town of 15,000 inhabitants, on the IS'arenta River, 
founded in 1440. 

The dress of the Bosnian rayah is similar in cut to that of the 
Tm'k of the same rank, but the Bosnian is not permitted to wear 
bright red. He wears a fez, which is often wrapped with a dark red 
cloth ; a brown doublet, full breeches of white or dark blue felted 
goods reaching to the knees, a blue or dark red sash, and sandals. 
He can not carry arms without paying a tax and getting a license 
therefor, so that his chibouk, or Turkish pipe, and his tobacco-pouch 
constitute the only ornaments he has corresponding to the glittering 
pistols and daggers of his Servian and Montenegrin neighbors. 

The women wear a costume which is after the fashion of either 
the Servians, Morlaks, or Turks. In the latter case it consists of 
a fez, a colored jacket with sleeves open before, exposing an under 
bodice which partly covers the opened shirt ; trousers of dark stuff 
reaching to the ankles, and stockingless feet, with slippers or low- 
cut shoes. The rayah lives in a house of wood and mud or of stone, 
according as either material is more abundant in the neighborhood ; 
sleeps in his clothes, and does not forget to be obsequious to the 
Mussulman. 

The Bulgarians are not confined to the province marked Bulgaria 
on the maps, but form the bulk of the rural population of the 
country from Western Macedonia to the Black Sea, and from the 
Danube to the Sea of Marmora. They are of the Ugro-Finnish 
race, and came down in the days of the Eoman Empire from the 
regions of the Yolga, whence their name, and took possession of 
the region which they still occupy. This region being inhabited by 
a Slavic people, the Bulgarians mingled with the natives and as- 
similated with them, adopting their customs and the essential 
features of their language, while they stiU retained the physiog- 
nomy of their own race. Bulgaria formed a kingdom of consider- 
able importance in the middle ages, but was subdued by the Hun- 
garians in the middle of the fourteenth century, and finally by the 
Turks in 1392. The Bulgarian Church gradually fell under the in- 
fluence of the Greeks, who are the dominant race of the districts 
lying south of the Bulgarian region. The Greek clergy finally 
gained the control of the ecclesiastical organization and ritual, and 
sought to banish the Bulgarian language from the churches and 




BULGARIANS. 




NICHOLAS I. -PRINCE OF MONTENEGRO. 



TURKEY'S TRIBUTARY STATES AXD SUBJECTS. 143 



scliools, and to substitute tlieir own ritual in worship. Their efforts 
aroused a spii-it of discontent and opposition to which the Bulgarians 
had long been strangers, and led to the organization of a movement 
about thirty years ago for the restoration of the Xational Church and 
the establishment of a national system of popular education. In 
1870, the Sultan issued a fimian re-estabhshing the Bulgarian 
Church upon its ancient foundations, and conceding to it a complete 
organization of native ecclesiastical administration, courts, and 
ritual, which produced a happy effect on the disposition and con- 
dition of the people. The new rule gave them a set of officer's of 
their own, who would have much to do with the manas^ement of 
local affairs, and also furnished them, in their priests and bishops, 
an agency of theii' own faith and nationality in whom they could 
confide, and who would sympathize with them, through whom to 
communicate with the heads of the province and of the Empire. 

The reorganization of the schools, although it was a part of the 
same movement, in effect preceded that of the Church. Permission 
was obtained from the Government for the estabhshment of schools 
distinct from those of the Greeks in some of the district towns. 
SlaN-ic books were printed and imported from abroad, and the re- 
vival of education became very rapid, so that there were in 1870, in 
the sanjak of Philippopolis, 337 schools of four grades, with 385 
teachers and 16,500 pupils, and a special training-school for teachers 
at Philippopolis. The teachers receive salaries ranging from 8350 
to S TOO per annum ; education is free, the schools being supported 
by subscriptions and the proceeds of bequests made for that pur- 
pose, and appropriations from the ecclesiastical revenues. Efforts 
have been made to induce the Ottoman Government to establish a 
special board of instniction for Bulgaria, but so far without success.. 

The popular schools are supplemented by the excellent schools of. 
the American missions at Phihppopolis and Eski Sagi'a, and by Pobert: 
College at Constantinople, which is largely attended by Bulgarian, 
youth seeking a higher education. The Bulgarian ladies have also 
made efforts for the advancement of education among their own 
sex, which have been rewarded with a measure of success. 

Literary entei-prise is not very active amoi^g the Bulgarians. One 
of the most important of their journals is the Ma'kedoni'a^ the 
organ of the National party. The people are represented as anxious 
to receive education, and the Bulgarian students at Kobert College 
are said to take the lead in scholarship. 
8 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The most serious cause of complaint which the Bulgarians have 
recently had to make against the Turkish Government has arisen 
from the enforced settlement of the Circassians among them. The 
Porte, in providing for the Mussulman refugees from the Caucasus 
who sought its protection in 1864, after the Russians had subdued 
that country, settled one hundred and twenty thousand Circassians 
in Bulgaria, scattering them among the Bulgarian people in such a 
manner as to split up the most compact Bulgarian masses into weaker 
communities and thus injure their force and influence. Land was 
seized for the colonists, and the Bulgarians were compelled to assist 
them in building houses and settling themselves. In addition to 
this original sway, the Circassians have proved very troublesome 
neighbors, have destroyed the security of persons and property in 
their neighborhood, and have become, as a writer who has recently 
described the situation in the province'^ says, a thorn in the flesh of 
the Bulgarians, " against w^hom they have to put up iron bars and 
keep numerous fierce dogs, precautions which do not always avail." 

The Bulgarians have generally been quiet subjects, and have sub- 
mitted for several centuries to political and ecclesiastical oppressions 
with such patience as to have acquired a reputation for servility and 
lack of energy which they do not deserve ; with a patience, too, 
which contrasts strangely with the outburst of frenzy to wdiieh they 
gave way in the summer of 1877, and makes that phenomenon all 
the more remarkable. They labor industriously when they work, 
yet do not get along as well as they should, for they faithfully keep 
all the feasts and fasts ordered by their religion, which, with the 
Sundays, take up about one hundred and eighty days, or half the 
year, l^evertheless, the Bulgarian settlements of the better class 
bear e^ddence of considerable thrift and comfort. The Bulgarians 
live in simple style, are fond of brilliant costumes — of which every 
village has its own colors — and are addicted to ceremony, especially 
at weddings and funerals. They are fond of dancing, and have a 
bagpipe and music like those of Scotland. An equality is acknowl- 
edged in their families between man and wife and the other mem- 
bers of the household, which is quite foreign to the Slavs of the 
neighboring provinces. Frequently, according to Kanitz, the woman 
shows herself, by her superior ability and energy, to be qualified to 
be the effective head of the house. The Bulgarians in the cities of 
the Danube are engaged in mercantile occupations or shop-keeping, 

* Mr. Archibald Forbc3, in the Nineteenth Century^ November, 1877. 



^ 



TURKEY'S TRIBUTARY STATES AND SUBJECTS. 145 

or follow handicrafts. Yery few of them practice in the profes- 
sions or fill official positions ; many enter the service of the Church 
as priests or monks. Those who live in the highlands or towns of 
the Balkans raise cattle or prosecute industries ; the people of the 
plains are farmers. The manufacture of the attar of roses is largely 
carried on south of the Balkans, and the milder climate of these 
regions make it favorable to the production of silk, tobacco, wine, 
fruits, and other profitable crops. 

The Bulgarians have made considerable progress during the last 
ten years in enterprise, education, and all that tends to better their 
condition. It is, however, far less than the progress which Seiwia 
has made, and not as great as that which Rumania has made. 

The Montenegrins are the most warlike people of the Slavic race. 
Turkey claims a sovereignty over their principality, but has never 
been able to exercise it, except for very brief periods, for four hun- 
dred years. The people are in a state of chronic warfare against the 
Turks, and have more often beaten them than been beaten by them ; 
and although less than two hundred thousand in number, and pos- 
sessing only 1,Y00 square miles of territory, they have maintained 
their independence with a heroism that has won for them the admi- 
ration of the world. The principality of Montenegro, Tchernagora, 
or the Black Mountain, was founded in 1484, when Scutari, having 
been taken on the south, and the Herzegovinians on the north having 
submitted to the Ottomans, Ivan Tchernoyevitch, with his followers, 
rather than give up their independence, abandoned the plain country 
and retired to the rocks and mountains. A monastery was built at 
Cettigne, to be the center of the new commonwealth, and a printing- 
press was set up in it, only twenty-eight years after the first printed 
book had been made, and before Oxford or Cambridge or Edin- 
burgh had a press. Here the fundamental law of the State was 
adopted, which included, according to Gladstone, the conditions 
" that in time of war as^ainst the Turk no son of Tchernagora could 
quit the field without the order of his chief ; that a runaway should 
be forever disgraced and banished from his people ; that he should 
be dressed in woman's clothes and presented with a distafl: ; and 
that the women, striking him with their distaffs, should hmit the 
coward away from the sanctuary of freedom." 

Ivan died in 1490, and was succeeded by his son G-eorge, who, 
upon his retirement in 1516, assigned the sovereignty of the prin- 
cipality to the metropolitan or bishop. From his accession, a 



146 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



long series of twenty prelates," says Gladstone, "like Moses, or 
Joshua, or Barak, or the son of Jesse, taught in the sanctuary, pre- 
sided in the councils, and fought in the front of the battle." 
Several of these prince-bishops were admirable statesmen, a fact 
which is well shown by the success with which they maintained the 
independence of the country against foreign foes whose armed 
detachments outnumbered its entire population, as well as against 
domestic traitors, and by the attachment and confidence with which 
the population always rallied around them. The bishop was assisted 
by a civil governor, who attended to secular affairs until the present 
century, when the office was abohshed. A code of laws was pro- 
mulgated, and a complete system of judicial administration was estab- 
lished about the beginning of the present century. Prince Danilo, 
who succeeded to the sovereignty in 1851, wishing to marry, avoided 
consecration as a bishop, and effected a permanent separation be- 
tween the ecclesiastical and the civil authority. His administration, 
was very successful. He published a statute-book in 1855, main- 
tained the neutrahty of the country during the Crimean war, though 
at the cost of internal commotion, and conducted a successful cam- 
paign against the Turks in 1858, after having refused a proposition 
made to him by the "Western Powers in 1857 to acknowledge the 
suzerainty of the Porte in return for some advantage promised to 
the State. 

The independence of the country was acknowledged by the 
powers in 1858, and its representative was admitted to the com- 
mission which sat at Constantinople in 1859, for the adjustment of 
boundaries, but in the face of the protests of the Porte. Prince 
Danilo was assassinated in 1860, and was succeeded by the present 
Prince !Nikita, or ITicholas. The Montenegrins are stalwart, active 
men, of unsurpassed bravery ; their dress is picturesque, and bristles 
with arms, for they go prepared for conflict. They speak the 
Servian language, and are attached to the orthodox Greek Church, 
but are not as devout as warlike. They maintained, until very 
recently, several peculiar customs of a primitive society, the most 
remarkable of which was that of the bond of brotherhood, by 
which two champions pledged themselves to stand by each other, 
with the condition that if either were hopelessly disabled in battle, 
the other should cut off his head to save it from capture and out- 
rage by the enemy. The principality contains 374 villages and 
hamlets, a church for each, several cloisters, some of which are not 



TURKEY'S TRIBUTARY STATES AND SUBJECTS. 147 



used, and seventj-t'^^'o schools. Cettigne, the capital, is a town of 
five hundred inhabitants, picturesquely situated at the foot of a 
steep mountain. Montenegro has no standing army, but the twenty 
thousand men are all soldiers by habit, ready for duty at a moment's 
notice, and the women are little behind them in bravery and capa- 
bility of defendino' themselves and their homes. 

<y o 

The Montenegrins have maintained their wars against the Turks 
for about four centuries, and have never suffered themselves to be 
overcome. Gladstone remarks in his paper on Montenegro in The 
Nineteenth Century, that the Turks never venture to attack the 
principality with an equal force, but aim to bring against it double 
the number of men that it can muster ; and he gives several striking 
illustrations from past and present wars of the pertinacity with 
which the Montenegrins have maintained their position. In 1712, 
the Tm-ks brought a force of not less than fifty thousand men, 
which Prince Danilo met with 12,000 men, and routed with a loss 
to the Turks of 20,000, to the Montenegrins of only 318 men. In 
1768, the Turks again invaded Montenegro wdth an army variously 
rated at 67,000, 100,000, and 180,000 men. The Montenegrins 
met them with ten to twelve thousand men, killed twenty thousand 
Turks with three thousand horses, and captured "an incredible 
booty of colors, arms, ammunition, and baggage." The brilliant 
character of the Montenegrin victories of 1876 is admh*ably set 
forth by Gladstone in the following summary : 

" On July 28, the men of Tchernagora encountered Mukhtar Pasha, 
and for once with superior force. Four thousand Turks were killed, 
but only seventy men of Montenegro. Osman Pasha was taken ; 
Selim was among the slain. At Medun, on August 14, 20,000 
Turks were defeated by 5,000 of these heroic warriors, and 4,700 
slain. On September 6, five battalions of Montenegro defeated 
Dervish Pasha in his movement upon Piperi, and slew 3,000 of 
his men. On October 7, Mukhtar Pasha, with 18,000 men, drove 
three Montenegrin battalions back upon Mirotinsko Dolove. Here 
they were raised, by a junction with Yukovitch, to a strength of 
6,000 men. Thus reinforced, they swept down upon Mukhtar, and 
after an action of sixteen hours, drove him back to Kloluk, leaving 
1,500 dead behind him. On October 10, Dervish Pasha effected 
an advance from the south, until he found himself attacked simul- 
taneously at various points, and had to retreat, with a loss of 2,000 
men. On October 20, Medun was taken, and the Ottoman General 



148 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



fled to Scutari, leaving garrisons in Spuz and Podgoritza. The 
armistice arrested this course of disas-ters, when the southern army 
(Dervish) had been reduced from 45,000 to 22,000, and the north- 
ern (MuMitar) from 35,000 to 18,000." 

An illustration of the practical respect which the great powers 
show for Montenegro was given duiing the wars of 18T5 and 18 76, 
when, until July of the latter year, Austria permitted the Turks 
to use its port of Klek for landing their troops, because the comity 
of nations allowed them thus to assist a friendly State in quelling 
an insmTection in one of its provinces; but when Montenegro 
declared war against Turkey in July, 1876, the port was closed 
against the Turks, because, as the Austrian Government presented 
the case, Montenegro was a sovereign State, engaged in regular 
warfare, and standing on an equal footing with Turkey, and Austria, 
as a neutral, could not assist either belligerent. 

The Montenegrins, whether they be tall, portly figures, as is the 
prevailing type, short and thick-set, or slender, as some are, are 
robust and active, possessing all the qualities of the best physical 
manhood. They have, for the most part, brown or black hair, which 
is cut short in front and left long behind, and dark, fiery eyes. Oc- 
casionally a blonde is found, with blue eyes. The beaixi is generally 
worn only in the mustache, though recently whiskers have come into 
fashion, but the chin is shaved. The men have fine, expressive, 
weather-bronzed countenances, but the women's faces wear the 
marks of hard work, care, and fatigue. Handsome women are as 
rare as fine, hearty-looking men are numerous. The ^rhole training 
of the men is directed to making them strong, active, and enduring 
as warriors. 

The Montenegrin costume is very picturesque. The cap is in the 
shape of a low cylinder hat, without a brim, the sides of which are 
of black silk or gauze, the black color having been adopted as a 
symbol of mourning for the subjection of the Servian nation. The 
top of the cap is red, and oraamented with a golden star, to which is 
added a semicircle or rainbow, symbolizing the hope of the ultimate 
restoration of Servian nationality, and the initials of the name of 
the reigning prince. To a red waistcoat, embroidered with black 
or gold, is added the gunj^ a long, folded, white cloak, and in case 
of a well-to-do Montenegrin, the jelek^ a sleeveless doublet, which 
with numerous black, red, and golden ornaments, is often made to 
cost a very high price. The dagger, pistol^ and other weapons are 



< 



TURKEY'S TRIBUTARY STATES AND SUBJECTS. 149 



carried in a red belt, which is bordered with a silver-worked bind- 
ing. The plaited full blue breeches reach to the knee, where they 
are attached bj an ornamental band to a kind of gaiter, or to an 
embroidered white stocking. The feet are protected by sandals of 
untanned leather, which are wrapped around with a network of 
thongs so as to facilitate the task of climbing the rocks. Both men 
and women wear over the shoulders a long fringed shawl, called 
the struka, which is used as a protection against rain and cold, and 
as a covering at night. Frequent washing does not agree with the 
Montenegrin's idea of heroism ; consequently he is said to be far 
from clean, and his hnen heroically du-ty. An English writer, who 
estimates the value of a complete Montenegrin snit at £20, or one 
hundred dollars, says that when he expressed his surprise that the 
men could afford such a sum, he was told that a dress would last a 
life- time. 

The women of the poorer classes wear a long shirt fastened with 
a belt, a woolen apron, and the struka^ or shawl. Those in better 
circumstances wear a vest, open in front, with sleeves, a sleeveless 
jacket of blue or violet silk embroidered with gold braid, a silver 
belt, a silk apron, and a black hood. The young women wear, in- 
stead of the sleeveless vest, a bodice and a cap, which is destitute of 
the stellar ornament and semicircle, and dispense with the belt. 

The Montenegiin looks upon war — war against the Turks — as his 
proper calling. During intervals of peace he is a hunter — in the 
old time he would have been a highwayman — and leaves all labor 
and mechanical work to the women and to foreio'ners. Under the 
enlightened rule of the later princes it has begun to be considered 
respectable to engage in a few kinds of business. If he has not the 
means to hve a gentleman's life during peaceful times, the Montene- 
grin will go abroad and earn his bread ; but he will return home at 
the &st sign of war and enlist under the banner of his nation. 
ISTothing but extreme necessity will induce him to emigrate per- 
manently from his beloved country. 

The houses of the Montenegrins are built on the mountain sides 
or cliffs, both for safety and so as to encroach as little as possible on 
the soil fit for cultivation. The houses of the poorer classes are of 
rough stones, laid without mortar, and seldom of more than one^ 
story. The houses of the middle classes are of two stories, with the 
stable and store-rooms below and the living rooms above. The 
houses of the well-to-do classes are of a better order ; and, lastly, 



150 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



the kula, or tower, the place of refuge for the neighborhood, where 
all the families can retire in case of invasion, is a peculiar feature 
of Montenegrin hfe, which takes ns back to the warlike days of the 
middle ages. A hereditary aristocracy exists in the country, embrac- 
ing two ranks, the Waywodes and the Serdars, or Cavaliers. The 
family life is quite the opposite to that which prevails in Servia. 
Here the household is contracted to the narrowest circle of blood- 
relatives, and is destitute of that community of interest which 
beautifies Servian life. The land goes generally to the youngest son, 
because he stays longest in the family, while the eldest seeks a home 
elsewhere, receiving, as his share of the inheritance, only his father's 
arms. The condition of the women is lower than in Servia ; they 
have the burden of labor and of the maintenance of the household, 
and are contented to bear it as part of the order of things, while 
their manly relatives fulfill their destiny in fighting the Turks. 

The fij'st school was established in Cettigne in 1834. There are 
now in the principality seventy-one institutions, a seminary for 
priests and teachers, and a girls' high-school. Education is free, and 
the State supplies books and other requisites. 

The Albanians, Aniauts, or Shkipetars, who inhabit the Adriatic 
province south of Montenegro, are of the old Illyrian or Thracian 
stock, and have given Turkey some of its greatest men and best 
soldiers. They are divided into a number of tribes, most of which 
may be referred to two stocks — the Geg in the north, and the 
Toskari in the south and center of the country. The majority of the 
people are Mohammedans. That part of them who are of Greek or 
Slavic descent are, for the most part, attached to the Greek Church ; 
and the Roman Catholics are numerously represented. The Roman 
Catholics of one district, who are called Miridites, were in insui-rec- 
tion in the spring of 18YT, but soon yielded to the force that was 
sent to quiet them. 

The Albanians are, as a rule, a handsome, noble-looking race of 
men, of medinm height or tall, strong, well-formed, rather slender 
than stout, with a proud, theatrical bearing. Their heads are long, 
their foreheads broad, their noses lengthened and straight. Their 
method of dressing the hair is peculiar. A wide border is clean 
shaven all around the head, so that only a small tuft remains on the 
crown ; this is twisted into a loose SAvitch, is turned up under the 
fez, and so Kes on the back of the neck as a sort of chignon. Often 
the whole front of the head is shaven from ear to ear, and the remain- 




MONTENEGRINS. 



GREEKS. 



TURKEY'S TRIBUTARY STATES AND SUBJECTS. 153 

msa liair is allowed to fall down over the back. The beard is trim- 
med to a mustache. A little, but not important difference is observed 
in the dress of the l^^orthern and Southern Albanians. The fez is 
worn everywhere. The fustanella of Epirus, a plaited skirt of white 
cloth reaching to the knees, is about equally in vogue with the 
sailor's breeches of blue cotton of the l^orth. The brown sailor's 
cloak, or capota^ of wool mixed with goats' hair, is likewise gener- 
ally worn. A cloak of white woolen, without collar or sleeves, and 
leaving the breast and body exposed, called the flokate^ is worn in 
Toskeria, or Southern Albania, by young and old, at all seasons. It 
is evidently designed to represent the sheepskin ; its white texture 
is plentifully besprinkled with red threads corresponding to the 
stains of blood, and triangular pieces are attached to the upper part 
of the arm-holes, which, reaching to the middle of the arms, suggest 
the skins of the sheeps' fore-legs. This garment is worn close to 
the body down to the waist, whence it hangs in full folds. Some 
other tribes wear a white woolen coat without a collar, open in front 
and reaching to the middle of the thighs, fastened at the waist by a 
belt ; in other districts, shorf breeches and gaiters prevail, the latter 
being highly ornamented, and calling to mind the Cothurni of the 
ancients. The Albanians are fond of all kinds of dress ornaments, 
and indulge in them lavishly. The dress of the women is very 
similar to that of the Montenegrin women. 

In thought and feeling the Albanians are barbarians ; they set a 
light value on human life, and are ready to kill for a slight offense ; 
and every murder calls the custom of " blood vengeance " into exer- 
cise, when the assassin and all that are his have to flee, and the fam- 
ily of the murdered man pursue him till the law of vengeance is satis- 
fied, after which friendship may be renewed with solemn ceremonies. 
Their favorite occupation is war ; they were formerly enlisted in the 
armies of several of the principal States of Western Europe, but are 
now found mostly in the Turkish armies. The family life is charac- 
terized by community of goods and the subordination of the women, 
whose condition is little above servitude. They perform all the labors 
and are so accustomed to their situation as to consider any deference 
paid to themselves as unworthy of a man. They often accompany 
their husbands to the battle-field, where they take care of the wound- 
ed, and sometimes take up arms themselves. There are many Al- 
banian legends of heroic women. Girls are considered marriageable 
when twelve years old. The marriage is a matter of sale, and the 



154 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



price of a wife averages about one hundred piasters. A modification 
of the custom of marriage by capture, or of stealing the bride and 
carrying her off by force, still prevails among some of the mountain 
tribes of the Is orth. 

The Albanians in the mountain districts live in two-story stone 
houses, in which the living-rooms are in the upper story, the stable, 
etc., in the lower. A tower is often attached, which is reached from 
the house by a kind of draw-bridge. This feature, as well as the 
whole style of the buildings, suggests the time when the houses were 
fortifications. The habitations in the agricultural districts consist of 
a hedged enclosure, containing several small buildings, one of which 
is used for the dwelhng, the others for cattle and store-houses. The 
Albanian language includes several dialects, which seem to be mix- 
tures of various tongues, representing all the races which have ever 
inhabited or ruled the country. It is written by the ^Torthern tribes 
in Roman, by the Southern tribes in Greek characters. 

All of the Grecian States and Islands formerly belonged to Turkey. 
The kingdom of Greece, consisting of the Morea, most of ancient 
Hellas, the island of I^egropont, or Eu-boea, with the Sporades lying 
near it, and the Cyclades, gained its independence in 1827. The 
Ionian Islands were added by cession from Great Britain, in 1864. 
The area of the kingdom is 19,353 square miles, and its population 
in 1870 was 1,457,894. The little State has made considerable ad- 
vancement since it became free, both material and in the arts, bnt 
its small size and scanty population prevent the development of great 
statesmanship or enterprise. The Greek population of Turkey are 
scattered through the districts representing the ancient States of 
Thessaly, Epirus, and Macedonia, in Southern Eumelia, along the 
northern, western, and southern coasts of Asia Minor, and upon the 
islands of the Eastern Mediterranean, including the large islands of 
Cyprus and Candia, or Crete. The northern line of the regions in 
which the modern Greek language is spoken in Turkey, in Europe, 
starts at Philates on the Adriatic, opposite the island of Corfu, ex- 
tends through Yanina, Konitza, Kastoria, and across the Lower War- 
dar, near Salonica ; thence through the middle of Eumelia to Agath- 
opolis, or Akhteboli, on the Black Sea. The Greeks are a trading peo- 
ple, and are most numerous in the towns and commercial centers and 
along the sea coasts, leaving the rural parts of the interior to be in- 
habited mainly by Bulgarians. They have a genius for political in- 
trigue, and before the kingdom of Greece was separated from Tui'key^ 



TURKEY'S TRIBUTARY STATES AND SUBJECTS. 155 

exercised a powerful influence on the Porte. Although much less 
numerous than the Bulgarians in Rumelia, thej have enjoyed so 
much prominence over them, and have so exercised the mastery of 
the Bulgarian Church and schools, as to give rise to exaggerated ideas 
of their numbers. According to Baker, there is a marked difference 
in customs and social ways, between the Greek settlers in the towns 
of the Black Sea coast and those of the Macedonian frontier, the 
former being more Oriental than the latter, and not so advanced in 
civilization, while in neither district is the manner of living of the 
people high, or even comfortable according to Western ideas. The 
Greeks of the Black Sea coast make but little complaint of Turkish 
mismanagement, while in Macedonia it is a common topic of conver- 
sation, and the popular mind is still embittered by the remembrance 
of the atrocities committed during the Grecian war of independence. 
Yet Baker relates, in his " Turkey," that even during the excitement 
attendant upon the Herzegovinian insurrection, the Christians of Sa- 
lonica gave an amateur concert for the benefit of the Turkish wound- 
ed, which was attended by the Turkish Governor-General and his 
staff, with other Turks, the proceeds of whicli were three hundred 
pounds sterling. 

The Greeks also form an important part of the population of the 
sea coasts of Asia Minor. Being a trading and sea-faring people, 
they congregate at the commercial towns and the shipping points 
throughout the Levant. They share with the Armenians in the gen- 
eral trade of the country, but so far, at least, as the Turkish popula- 
tions are concerned, they control that which depends on the sea. 
Before the Turkish conquest, Asia Minor was a Grecian country. 
As this region was occupied by the Moslems some centuries before 
Constantinople fell into their hands, the mass of the Greek popula- 
tion removed to Europe. For several centuries, Asia Minor has 
been, except as to its commercial towns, an almost purely Turkish 
country. Since, however, the Empire has entered into more general 
relations with Western Europe, and its trade has been develoj^ed, 
the Greeks have increased in numbers and been more conspicuous, 
and at present their influence is growing very fast. 

The island of Crete (now commonly called Candia) has atti-acted 
more attention in recent years than any other of the Greek provinces 
of Turkey. It lies in the Mediterranean Sea, south-east of Greece, 
and is the central and largest of the series of islands which, stretch- 
ing from the southern points of Greece to the south-western angle of 



156 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Asia Minor, seem to enclose tlie Archipelago, or ^gean Sea. It is 
about one hundred and fifty miles long, and from six to thirty-five 
miles wide, and presents a mass of mountains, the highest of which, 
Mount Ida, near the center of the island, is Y,6T4 feet in height. The 
island is extraordinarily rich in associations with the naost ancient 
mythology and classical traditions of the Greek race. The inhabit- 
ants, who number about one hundred and sixty thousand, are reck- 
oned to be three-quarters Christians and one-quarter Mohammedans. 
In many points of government the Cretans have less to complain of 
than the people of some of the other provinces ; the taxes are not 
heavy ; no military service or poll-tax is required of them, and local 
Liberty is to a great extent secured. ^sTevertheless, a bitter jealousy pre- 
vails between the Christians and Mohammedans ; and though aU avow- 
edly possess equal rights and privileges, the Mohammedans receive the 
practical favor of the Government, and are enabled, or are supposed 
to be enabled, to domineer over their fellow-subjects. Discontent 
has prevailed very widely throughout the island for many years, and 
culminated in the insurrection of 1866, which came very near pre- 
cipitating a new crisis in the Eastern Question, and which the Gov- 
ernment put down only after a long contest and with great difficulty. 
The Government has endeavored to pacify the people by making 
them a few concessions and giving them Christian Governors; but 
the affairs of t'le island have continued to be very disturbed. The 
danger of a new outbreak seemed very imminent throughout the 
wars from 1875 to 1877, so that much of the attention of the Gov- 
ernment was directed toward devising means to preserve order, and 
a force had to be spared from the active army to be ready to repress 
any disturbance, should one break out. 

The Greeks of Turkey preserve, in only a slightly modified de- 
gree, all the predominant traits of their ancestors. The modern 
Greek language is quite as nearly like the ancient Greek as are any 
of the languages of Latin Europe, the German, or the Kussian lan- 
guage, to the tongues from which they are descended. The social 
customs, foil?: lore, superstitions, manners, art-tastes, utensils of 
domestic and agricultural use, and dress of the present Greeks 
bear a striking resemblance to those of the ancients. A systematic 
effort has been making in the Kingdom of Greece since the revolu- 
tion to restore as much of the ancient classical life as is consistent 
with modern conditions, with a success that is remarkable, and is 
ahnost complete with respect to the language. 



TURRETS TRIBUTARY STATES AND SUBJECTS. 157 

The red cap of the modern Greek preserves the sailor's cap which 
is painted in the same color on the ancient vases, and the Phrygian 
cap of old is worn by the shepherds of Arcadia. Greek brides 
wear a stomacher formed of silver pieces sewed together, which 
recalls the silver breast-plate of Minerva. The ear-rings, necklaces, 
and bracelets of the women are like thos3 of the ancients, and they 
sprinkle their hair with gold-powder and stain the tips of their fin- 
gers with red, just as they did in the days of Homer. The ancient 
Phrygian dress, which the Greek colonists adopted in early days, is 
still worn in Asia Minor, by both Turks and Greeks. Even the 
turban, which till recently has been held as a distinctive mark of a 
Turk, is not Turkish, but is a gift of the Asiatic Greeks to their 
conquerors. 

According to Kohl, in his ''People of Europe," the Grecian 
Palikar, or countryman, wears a colored vest, open before and em- 
broidered on the edges, and over that a short jacket of the same 
material, richly embroidered, while from his shoulders hangs a 
colored, embroidered over-garment, with open, free-flowing sleeves. 
A broad belt, colored and ornamented, is buckled around his waist, 
in which he carries his pistols and dagger. Erom his waist depends 
to below his knees a white linen skirt, folded into numerous narrow 
plaits, which is called fustanella. The fustanella of the island- 
ers is often blue. The legs from the knees down are covered with 
white hose, or with tight, colored gaiters adorned with embroidery or 
tassels, the feet with red, pointed shoes. A coarse, brown, hooded 
cloak embroidered with blue, covering the whole upper part of the 
body, completes the costume. The dress of the women is difierent 
in different places. It generally consists of a woolen frock, reach- 
ing from the neck to the feet, which is girdled at the waist with a 
broad, shawl-like cloth. A shorter over-garment completes the cos- 
tume. The fez is worn by both sexes. 

Colonies of Circassians have been settled around the Black Sea 
since 1864, when thePussians having conquered the Caucasus, forced 
the former inhabitants of that region to remove from their homes. 
A part of these people, who refused to accept the lands on the 
steppes which were offered them by Pussia, were given homes and a 
refuge on the soil of Turkey. They are supposed to number at this 
time about two hundred thousand souls in European Turkey, where 
they are settled principally along the Black Sea coast. They are 
strict Mohammedans, live in the simplest style in obscure villages. 



158 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



cultivate tlie soil in a careless manner, are courteous and hospitable 
in an eminent degree, and, like the ancient Spartans, are proud of 
their skill as thieves. Their women are brought up to be sold to 
foreign harems, and look forward, says Baker, to entry into that 
life as a young lady in England does to ' coming out.' " Their 
families being represented in the household of the high officers and 
wealthy people at Constantinople, they have influence at court and 
know how to use it, both for their own advancement and for protec- 
tion against the consequences of their depredations and disorderly 
conduct. 

The Armenians are the descendants of the people who once 
owned and ruled the whole of Armenia, those parts which are in- 
cluded in Kussian and Persian Armenia, as well as the Turkish prov- 
inces. They have an ancient and honorable history, of which 
traces are found in connection with the records of the most flourish- 
ing periods of the Assyrian and Egyptian Empires. In the thou- 
sand years around the beginning of the Christian era, they played an 
important part in the affairs of the Eastern nations. They now 
form an integral part of the population of the three Armenias, 
so much so as to give them the character of a Christian district, 
surrounded by Mohammedan tribes, but are probably more numer- 
ous at the present day in other parts of their three sovereigTL States 
than in the home of their fathers. Their present total number is 
variously estimated at from 3,000,000 to 6,000,000, and it is thought 
that there are about two and a quarter millions of them in the Turk- 
ish Empire alone. 

The Armenians claim that they were the first to embrace Chris- 
tianity as a nation^ and the claim seems to be well established by 
the evidence cited by the historian, St. Martin. "About the year 
276," says Dean Milman, " Christianity was the religion of the king, 
the nobles, and the people of Armenia." This was thirty years 
before the accession of Constantino made Christianity fashionable 
in the Roman Empire. Ever since that period the Armenians have 
been known as Christians, and have formed a distinct branch of the 
Christian Church, next among the Oriental Churches in importance 
after the Greek Church. The services of the Church are still per- 
formed in the ancient Armenian language, a tongue which the 
people fondly believe to have been the original speech of the 
human race, i^ine orders of clergy are recognized, the chief of 



*" Turkey," p. 101. 



TURKEY'S TRIBUTARY STATES AND SUBJECTS. 159 



whicli is the Catholicos, or Patriarch. The principal convent of the 
Church is at Etchmiadzin, in the Russian province of Erivan, arid 
the patriarch who resides there is recognized as the head of the 
whole Church, everywhere except in a small district on Lake Yan, 
which has a patriarch with rival claims to supremacy. Other patri- 
archs reside at Jerusalem and Constantinople. The Patriarch of 
Constantinople is the civil head of all the Armenians in Turkey, 
and is practically independent of the Catholicos at Etchmiadzin, but 
recognizes an inferiority in rank to him. The Patriarch of Etch- 
miadzin has immediate jurisdiction of all the Armenians in Pussia 
and Turkey. He is elected by the synod, subject to the approval 
of the Czar. 

The remains of the ancient prosperity and supremacy of Chris- 
tianity in Armenia are found all over the country in the shape 
of the ruins of churches and other ecclesiastical buildings. The 
numerous changes and conquests to which the country has been 
subjected have, however, driven the majority of its proper in- 
habitants away, so that the Armenians are now widely scattered. 
Wherever they go, however, they carry with them the love of their 
country, and cherish their religion and literature. Wherever they 
are found, too, they generally form a respectable part of the popu- 
lation. They are the merchants of all the interior towns of Turkey 
and in Persia, and parts of Pussia and South-eastern Europe share 
with the Greeks the trade of the great commercial towns, and have 
extensive business relations at home and abroad. They often also 
attain official positions, where they prove to be at least as efficient 
and faithful as native Turks and Russians ; and it is worthy of 
note that General Melikoff, the active commander of the Russian 
forces in Armenia, and General Tergukasoff, who proved himself 
probably one of the most skillful general officers in the Russian 
army, are both Armenians. 

The Armenians have a literature of considerable antiquity, which 
they prize. They have also made much literary progress recently, 
and had, at the close of the year 18 Yl, thirteen newspapers, pub- 
lished at Constantinople. They have received much attention from 
American Missionary Societies, which have built up flourishing 
missions and schools among them at Yan, Bitlis, and Erzerum, in 
Armenia, and at several points in Asia Minor. 

' A branch of the Armenian Church, called the United Armenians, 
acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope. They are noted for the 



l6o THE WAR IN THE EAST. 

flourishing scTiools which have been established by the celebrated Or- 
der of the Mekhitarists, and which have educated some of the best 
Turkish scholars among the Christians in the Government service. 

The mountains of the south-eastern coast of the Black Sea are 
inhabited by a people of the Grusian or Georgian stock called the 
Lasis. They are described by Kasbek^ as a people of prepossessing 
appearance, remarkably neat in their clothing, of considerable in- 
tellectual development, and as living in much comfort. 

The houses of the common people throughout Armenia are 
generally earth huts, partly dug out of the sides of the hills, partly 
consisting of adjoining outside structures of timber, covered with a 
roof of sod. It is a feature of the regions in which this style of 
building prevails, that while to one looking over the country from 
certain positions, it will appear quite uninhabited, one coming into it 
from otlier directions mil find the same spots full of houses and peo- 
ple. The more wealthy inhabitants live in houses of a better style. 

The Maronites are a sect of Christians in Syria, who acknowledge 
the authority of the Pope. They number about one hundred and 
forty thousand persons, are generally farmers, poor, honest, and 
hospitable. They are governed by a patriarch, whose election is 
subject to the confirmation of the Pope and bishops. Their priests 
are allowed to marry, and number about twelve hundred. They 
have four hundred churches, and about one-half of the two hundred 
convents of the Lebanon district, in which are from 20,000 to 
25,000 monks. They have also nunneries, which are built at a 
distance from the convents, and have no intercourse with them 
except on the occasion of administering the sacraments. The 
Maronites speak the Arabic language, and have selections from the 
Bible and other sacred books in their tongue. These people were 
united in the former part of the last century as to civil and political 
government into a community with the Druses. The two sects 
afterward became separated from each other and alienated, and 
finally hostile. A personal quarrel between Maronites and Druses, 
in 1859, became the occasion of a war of extermination by the 
Druses upon the Maronites, which led to the outbreaks of 1860 in 
Syria, and brought an interference and settlement by foreign 
l^owers. Since that time a special Governor has been provided for 
the Lebanon district. 

The Druses are a people of a peculiar race and religion, numbering 



* Colonel Kasbek, "Three Months in Turkish Grusia." 



TURRETS TRIBUTARY STATES AND SUBJECTS. i6i 



in all about seventy thousand persons, who live in the mountains of 
Syria. They have religious books and methods of worship, which 
they are not willing to expose to strangers, so that a complete ac- 
count of their doctrine and usages is hard to obtain. Their govern- 
ment is partly feudal. They are warlike and courageous, a people 
of simple and primitive habits, who earn their subsistence by culti- 
vating the soil and working at mechanical trades. The women oc- 
cupy a comparatively high position, in which their rights are recog- 
nized and protected; their occupations are weaving and spinning. 
The man is the husband of one wife. The villages of the Druses 
are usually built in mountain passes, where they rise in terraces up 
the sides of the hills. These people form a considerable part of the 
population, and exercise much influence in the towns at the foot of 
Mount Hermon. 

The Kurds are a race of Mohammedans who inhabit the large ter- 
ritory called Kurdistan, which, lying south of Armenia, is mostly 
included in Turkey, but partly in Persia. Their numbers are vari- 
ously estimated at from eight hundred thousand to three million 
persons. About one hundred thousand of them are Christians of 
the Kestorian Church. They have a light complexion, an animated 
physiognomy, sharp, delicate features, and neat frames ; are good 
horsemen, skilled in the use of arms, and fond of plunder, although 
hospitable. They are partly settled and partly nomadic. Their 
houses are of stone, often furnished with a kind of tower ; besides 
their homes, they have retreats in the fastnesses of the mount- 
ains, to which they retire when danger is present in the coun- 
try. They are divided into numerous tribes, which are often at 
war with each other, and some of which, especially those in Per- 
sia, are very wild. They acknowledge the general authority of the 
Sultan, but will not submit to a close government. Women have 
a higher position among them than among either the Turks or the 
Persians. They do not veil themselves, except among the higher 
classes, and are treated with comparative respect and deference. 
The Kurdish costume is like that of the Turks. The men wear a 
cloak of black goats' hair and a red cap wound with a silk shawl 
which falls over the shoulders. Travelers give varying accounts of 
the character of the Kurds, according to the degree of culture or the 
friendly or hostile moods of the tribes which they meet. The Kurd- 
ish irregular troops in Armenia have given a very disgraceful ac- 
count of themselves in the present war. 
9 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The most important African tributary of Turkey is Egypt. Egypt 
proper contains an area of 212,607 square miles, and a population of 
about five and a quarter million persons. Kubia, which is politi- 
cally a part of Egypt, though ethnographically distinct, contains a 
population of about two and one-half millions more. The Khedive 
has made large additions to the dominions of the country by con- 
quests along the Upper Kile nearly to the equator, which swell the 
extent of the territory subject to Egypt to a total of 869,389 square 
miles, and the population to 16,922,000. Egypt is the most ancient 
country in the world of which the history survives, the records in- 
scribed upon its monuments extending back to a period which is 
reckoned, according to the various methods of com]3uting chronology, 
at from three thousand to five thousand years before Christ, and far 
antedating all other existing records, except the books of Moses, 
and, perhaps, one or two documents recently exhumed from I^ine- 
veh. It was conquered by the Persians 525 b.c, then by Alexander 
the Great, then by the Eomans, 30 b.c. Under the Roman Empire 
it became an important Christian State, and Alexandria was a noted 
seat of theological learning and institutions. It was conquered by 
the Saracens, a.d. 683, and by the Turks in 1517. It has advanced 
gradually toward independence since Mehemet Ali became Yiceroy 
in 1806. The Khedive is absolute sovereign, subject to the chiefly 
nominal allegiance which he owes to the Porte, and governs with 
the assistance of a Council of State, of four military and four civil 
dignitaries. The revenue of the country was calculated in the ofii- 
cial budget of 1874 at about $49,559,850. It maintains a separate 
army and navy from those of Turkey. Its commerce is large, but 
consists, to some extent, of goods carried in transit. The exports 
for 1873 amounted to $72,500,000, and the imports to $30,000,000. 
The total debt of the Yiceroyalty as fixed by Messrs. Goschen and 
Joubert, representing the English and French creditors in 1875-76, 
is £76,000,000, or $380,000,000. This large amount of indebtedness 
has been incurred through extravagance in constructing internal 
improvements and building up business enterprises which, although 
they promise to contribute to the future prosperity and resources of 
the country, impose at present a heavy load upon the Government 
and the people. The principal work of improvement is the Suez 
Canal, which has been cut across the Isthmus of Suez, and connects 
the Mediterranean and Ked Seas. The total length of the canal is 
ninety-two miles ; it has capacity for vessels drawing twenty-five feet 



TURKEY'S TRIBUTARY STATES AND SUBJECTS. 163 



nine inches of Wciter, and ^Yas built at a total cost of 891,393,645. 
More than thirteen hnndrecl miles of railway have been built in 
Eg^-pt proper ; the telegraph wires extend over 5,500 miles, and 
other lines of railway and telegraph are contemplated, which will be 
pushed into the heart of Africa. A system of irrigation canals has 
been constructed, which involved the removal of sixty-five per cent, 
more material than the Suez Canal. Great harbor works have been 
begmi at Alexandria, which vdll cost when completed more than ten 
millions of dollars. In addition to these public works, the Khedive has 
built sugar refineries and cotton manufactories and numerous palaces 
and public buildings. Besides the University at Cairo, and the schools 
connected vrith the Mosques, which have a reputation co-extensive 
with the Mohammedan world, but which are not much above the 
level of other Mohammedan schools, Egypt has a number of schools 
formed partly after the Eui'opean model, which are of a better grade 
and better attended than the similar schools in Turkey. Among 
them are several special and technical schools ; two girls' schools, 
formed by the wives of the Elhedive; elementary schools, and a 
school for the blind. Several excellent schools, an academy, and a 
theological school, the two latter at Sioot, in Upper Egypt, have 
been established in connection with the Missions of the United Pres- 
byterian Church of North America. Several schools have been als€ 
established by the Eoman Cathohcs, the Greek, ItaHan, German, 
and French residents. As a whole, Egypt offers better facilities for 
education than any other predominantly Mohammedan State. 

The leading races inhabiting Egypt are the Arabs and the Copts. 
The Arabs are by far the most numerous race, numbering between 
foui' and four and one-haK millions. The Arabs of the better class 
in the cities are a courteous people, strict Mohammedans, and fair 
representatives of the East, as pictured in the ''Arabian JS'ights," 
many of the scenes of which are laid in Cairo. The rural Arabs, 
called Fellaheen, or Fellahs, form the chief part of the peasantry, 
or working people of the country, and are among the most miser- 
ably situated people on the earth. Their life is one of the meanest 
drudgery, by which they gain a bare subsistence. They are subject 
to all sorts of oppression and extortion from the local officers, who 
being instructed to return a certain amount of revenue to the Gov- 
ernment, collect the amount and their own commissions by force. 
Flogging with the bastinado to compel the payment of taxes is a 
regular feature of Egyptian peasant life. It has come down from 



164 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



time immemorial, and is more a custom than a sign of real oppres- 
sion. The Fellah, though he may be perfectly able, prides himself 
upon refusing to pay the taxes, until he has compelled the collector 
to administer a certain nnmber of blows to him, and would be 
ashamed to yield too easily. With all their misery, the Fellahs are 
a fine, muscular race, well-proportioned, "with fine oval faces, 
bright, deep-set, black eyes, straight, thick noses, large, but well- 
formed mouths, full lips, beautiful teeth, broad shoulders, and well- 
shaped limbs," and are " the most patient, the most home-loving, 
and withal the merriest race in the world."* The women have 
much beauty when young, but wither rapidly after they have passed 
their teens. Girls are considered marriageable at from twelve to 
eighteen years of age. The condition of the peasantry appears to 
be the same now that it was five thousand years ago, and seems to 
have undergone no change during the whole history of the country, 
through all its various dynasties. 

The Copts are descendants of the Ancient Egyptians, and until 
recently spoke a language whose derivation from that of the ancient 
inhabitants was shown both in its structure and in the form of its 
written characters. They are Christians, and form a distinct branch 
of the Christian Church, the Coptic Church. This Church is Mono- 
physite in doctrine, that is, it ascribes but one nature to Christ, and 
is similar in its general doctrines and practices to the Abyssinian 
Church. It is governed by a Patriarch, chosen by itself, and bishops, 
and possesses an independent translation of the Bible in the Coptic 
language. The Copts associate readily with the Mohammedans, 
from whom they are distinguished chiefly by wearing a black turban, 
and have adopted many Mohammedan customs. As a consequence, 
they intermarry freely with Mohammedans, and conversions to Is- 
lamism are easily made, and frequent among them. Thus the purity 
of their stock has been impaired, and it is probable that a consider- 
able part of the race is represented among the population who are 
classed as Arabs. 

The Egyptian Grovernment has employed European and American 
officers of tested ability in various branches of administrative and 
practical work, with great advantage to the interests of the country. 
Some of its native officers have receiv^ed a good European education. 
The Minister of War, who is the third son of the Khedive, has 



*McCoaTi, "Egypt as It Is," (London, 1877). 



TURKE Y'S TRIE U TAR Y STA TES AND S UB J EC TS. 165 

completed a university course, and received tlie degree of D.C.L. 
from the University of Oxford, in England. 

Tripoli and Barca, with Fezzan, constitute a province lying west 
of Egypt, and between it and Tunis. The area of the province is 
about 3^14,400 square miles, or considerably more than that of the 
German Empire, but the population will hardly reach a million, of 
whom all but a few thousand Christians and Jews are Mohammedans. 
Although the country consists largely of desert, it could easily sup- 
port a much greater population. A fraction of the province, called 
Cyoenaica, contained in ancient times as many inhabitants as the 
whole now has. Tripoli is wholly subject to Tm-key. 

Tunis, the farthest west of the African provinces of Turkey, lies 
northwest of Tripoli, between that province and Algeria. It has an 
area of about 45,000 square miles, and a population of between 
1,200,000 and 2,000,000. The Bey holds his title as a fi-f of the 
Sultan, without whose authority he can not declare war, conclude 
peace, or cede territory, whose name must appear on all the coinage, 
and to whom he is obliged to pay a tribute, and to furnish a contin- 
gent of troops when demanded. Practically, except as to the ac- 
knowledgment of the Sultan's authority, the payment of the tribute 
and furnishing the contingent, he is independent. The climate of 
the country is good, the soil is fertile and productive, and trade in 
a considerable variety of products is active and profitable. The 
exports in 1876 were valued at §3,292,000, and the uxjports at 
S2,2Y4,000. A large part of the trade, as well as of that of Tripoli, 
is by caravans with the interior of Africa, whence are brought 
senna, gums, ostrich feathers, gold, and ivory. Forty miles of rail- 
way are in operation within the province, and French telegraph lines 
have been extended to various parts of the country, connecting it 
with Algeria and Europe. 



CHAPTEE YII. 



THE INSTJEEECTION OF 1875, AND THE WAES OF 1876. 

Complaints of the Christian Subjects of European Tiirkey — The Insurrection in Her- 
zegovina and Bosnia — Efforts to Suppress it — The Great Powers seek to Prevent its 
Spreading — FutUe Efforts of Diplomacy — Schemes of Reform — The Andrassy and 
Berlin Notes — The Massacre of Consuls at Salonica, and the Bulgarian Atrocities — 
Views and Reports of Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Baring, and Eugene Schuyler on the Mas- 
sacres in Bulgaria — Servia and Montenegro make War upon Turkey — Details of the 
Campaign — Defeat of the Servians — An Armistice Granted — Conference of the Pow- 
ers at Constantinople — Lord Salisbury', the British, and Count Chaudordy, the French, 
Representative at the Conference — The Turkish Constitution — Plan of the CoDfer- 
ence for the Settlement of Difiiculties — It is Rejected by Turkey — The Protocol — It 
is Rejected — Conclusion of Peace between Turkey and Servia — The Turkish Parlia- 
ment. 

Christian tenants in the European provinces of Turkey have fre- 
quently complained of oppressions inflicted upon tliem by the Mus- 
sulman lando\vners, under whom they hold, and their grievances 
liave often been the occasion of local disturbances. Such complaints 
were more than usually numerous in Herzegovina and North em Al- 
bania in the spring of 1875. Many Christian families at this time 
fled to Montenegro for security against the hard treatment they were 
receiving. In the middle of July, the people of two small villages 
on the J^arenta River, near ITevesigne, offered resistance to the col- 
lection of taxes. The Turkish troops undertook to quell the dis- 
turbance, but the insurgents defeated them after a fight of fifteen 
hours, and occupied their position. This success having been gained, 
others were encom^aged to join in the resistance ; the revolt spread to 
the neighboring towns, and finally involved all of Southern Herze- 
govina, to the borders of Montenegro. Every advantage gained over 
the Turks helped to increase the nu.mber of the insurgents. The 
families and cattle of the people were sent to Montenegro and Dal- 
matia, while the able-bodied men joined the military bauds. The 
begs, or landowners, likewise formed their dependents into bands to 
oppose the insurgents, and an irregular war of outrage and plunder 
ensued. The Turkish Government tried to quiet the disturbance by 
sending a commission to inquire into the grievance of the people 




SERVIAN SOLDIERS. 



INSURRECTION OF 1875, AND WARS OF 1876. 169 

and offer redress, but without success. It then sent a force of troops, 
which were dispatched by sea and landed, with the permission of 
the Austrian Government, at the Austrian seaport of Klek, and 
marched the short remaining distance to the scene of the insurrec- 
tion. On the 6th of August the insurgents surrounded the Turkish 
fort at Trebigne, and cut it off from its supplies. The first troops 
landed at Klek were sent to the relief of this place, which they ef- 
fected, defeating and dispersing the insurgents on the 20th of Au- 
gust, and clearing the way to Mostar. 

In the meantime, the insurrection had spread to Bosnia. It broke 
out at Banialuka, in the northern part of that Yilayet, on the 16th 
of August. Some mounted Turks had ridden through this town and 
killed a number of Christian workmen while quietly attending to 
their business. The complaints of the friends of the murdered men 
before the magistrates not having been attended to, an excitement 
arose over the affair, which led to an open conflict between the Mo- 
hammedans and Christians in the streets of the town. The Chris- 
tians were beaten, and fled to the nearest towns for safety. Bands 
of Bosnians were immediately formed for resistance at various 
points. Their proceedings were, however, for several months con- 
ducted without any energy, and with no fixed plan. 

Immediately on the occurrence of the outbreak in Herzegovina, 
the Governments of Germany, Austria, and Russia, after consulta- 
tion with each other, notified Turkey that she must suppress the 
insurrection at once ; when the movement extended to Bosnia, they 
offered their friendly offices to the Porte, stipulating, however, that 
concessions to the wants of the Christian population would be essen- 
tial to an effective pacification. The Porte at first declined this 
offer ; but France and Italy afterward joined in it, and on the 22d 
of September the Ambassadors of the five powers proposed that the 
Consuls of their respective Governments should go into the insurgent 
districts and confer directly with the chiefs of the insurrection 
respecting a cessation of hostilities. The Porte assented to this 
proposition, and named Server Pasha as its representative to attend 
the conference. The meeting was to be held at Mostar, oa the 3d 
of September. The Consuls of the five Western Powers and the; 
Turkish representative attended punctually, but not an insm-gent 
was present. The chiefs had previously held a consultation on the 
2Tth of August, at the cloister of Kosierovo, and had resolved upon 
a better organization of the insurrection, and had decided, as to the 



170 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



proposals of the Consuls, that they would listen to them, but avoid 
giving any definite answer to them. 

The chiefs who participated in this council were Liubibratish, 
who was at that time the recognized head of the movement ; Lazar 
Sotchitza, Luka Petkovitch, Bozevitch (an Albanian), and Peko 
Paulovitch (a Montenegrin), who subsequently displaced Liubibratish 
as leader. The Consuls having failed to bring the insurgents to a 
conference, next agreed to separate into groups and visit the chiefs 
at their places of resort. One groap — consisting of the Consuls of 
Russia, France, and England — was to go to Nevesigne, while the 
other group — consisting of the Consuls of Germany, Austria-Hun- 
gary, and Italy — should go to Trebigne, the Turkish agent attach- 
ing himself to either group as circumstances should demand. Sev- 
eral conferences were held without result. The insurgents insisted 
upon a suspension of hostilities, and refused to take part in any con- 
ference in which a representative of Turkey participated. At the 
end of September the Consuls returned to Mostar, where they were 
instructed to remain and await the development of events. Server 
Pasha was instructed by the Porte to receive courteously all the 
communications which they might make to him, but to enter into 
no engagements which might commit his Government. Through 
September and the succeeding months of the fall, till the closing 
in of the winter, the insurgents harassed the Turkish troops con- 
tinually, attacking them at difficult points along the paths of the 
mountains and forests, surprising their convoys and capturing or 
destroying their provisions and animals. A brilliant surprise in- 
flicted upon the Turks by Peko and Liubibratish with two thousand 
insurgents at Prapatnitza in the latter part of September was fol- 
lowed by a considerable addition to the strength of the insurrection 
from Bosnia. 

Another event of a different character added to its force. The 
Turks had promised immunity to those who had participated in the 
insurrection who should return to their homes. A number of 
refugees, relying upon the assurances thus given, returned early in 
October from Dalmatia and Montenegro to Papovopolie, where they 
were arrested as rebels and executed. 

On the 1st of October the Turks had in the insurrectionary dis- 
tricts and on the borders of Servia nearly 100,000 men, of whom 
16,000 regular troops were in Herzegovina, while the insurrection- 
ary forces numbered not more than between 10,000 and 14,000 men. 



INSURRECTION OF 1875, ^ND WARS OF 1876. 171 

Nevertheless, the movements of the insurgents were nearly always 
successful. The country was a difficult one and strange to the 
Turks, while the Ilerzegovinians w^ere familiar with its ways and 
managed their movements with skill. 

On the 11th of October Shevket Pasha marched from Trebigne 
with a brigade of Turks against the insurrectionist position on the 
Zubtchi. He met a force of 2,000 insurgents near Grab on the 13th, 
defeated them and occupied their position, but was not able to pur- 
sue them, and returned to Trebigne. At the close of October, 
Peko Paulovitch and Sotchitza with 5,000 men held the road be- 
tween Goranitchka and Piva, while 3,000 insurgents at the Duga 
Pass controlled the communications of the fort at JSTicsic. Pauf 
Pasha, who had been appointed to the command of the troops in 
Herzegovina, dispatched Shevket Pasha with about 5,000 men to 
the relief of Goranitchka. This expedition was repulsed in the 
engagements of the 10th and 11th of November, and Eauf Pasha 
w nt in person to the relief of the fortress. He surprised the in- 
surgents at the cloister of Piva, and accomplished his purpose. The 
relief of Nicsic next engaged attention. It was effected at the cost 
of hard fighting by a combined operation, in which Pauf Pasha 
marched up through the south end of the Duga Pass while Selim 
Pasha pressed dov/n from the north end. Winter set in about the 
middle of December, and all important military movements were 
suspended. 

Political discussions in Servia centered around the questions which 
grew out of the relations of the country to Turkey. The party of 
Young Servia kept up a constant agitation for the union of the 
Serbs and their kindred stems for war against Turkey, and the 
erection of a great Servian Kingdom, and was very strong, both in 
the Skupstchina and among the people. Prince Milan recognized 
the weakness of his country as compared with a great power like 
Turkey, and believed that the policy advised by the Young Servians 
would be disastrous and destructive of the best interests of the 
State, if not of its existence. He therefore favored a policy of 
peace. His career was made very uncomfortable by the hostility 
to his views of the agitators for war among the people, in the 
Skupstchina, and even in his cabinet, and was troubled by move- 
ments to displace him and set up another prince, supposed to be 
more ready to yield to the views of the war party. At the breaking 
out of the Herzegovinian insurrection in July, 1875, the conservative 



1/2 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



ministry of Stephanovitcli was in power, but could not command a 
majoritj in the Skupstchina. The prince dissolved the Assembly. 
The new elections resulted adversely to the ministry, and they 
olfered their resignations on the 16th of August. Prince Milan 
requested them to remain in office until the Assembly should meet. 
The Skupstchina was opened at Kraguyevatz on the 28th of 
August, with a majority decidedly hostile to the ministry. A new 
ministry was appointed from the national party, with Ristitch at 
its head. Prince Milan delivered an address to the Assembly on the 
10th of September, in which he described the situation of Servia in 
the existing trouble as a hard one, and complained of the moving 
of Turkish troops on the frontiers, but expressed the hope that good 
results would follow the conferences of the Porte with the Western 
Powers. A circular, issued by the ministry to the provincial 
officers, ordered them to prevent all acts which might disturb the 
friendly relations of Servia with the Porte. The Skupstchina voted 
a reply to the address of the Prince, promising him all the means 
necessary to protect the liberties of the people and the security of 
the country, and speaking of the possibility of war as something to 
be contemplated only in case it should be necessary for the national 
defense. On the 28th of September, the Skupstchina, in secret 
session, granted the ministry a credit for making precautionary 
military preparations. The next day the Skupstchina was ad- 
journed by the Prince to Belgrade. The ministry were very ab- 
ruptly dismissed a few days afterward. Prince Milan, meeting 
the members of his cabinet in the ministerial chamber, complained 
that they were inciting the country to war, and desired that they 
should be more prudent. Minister Pistitch replied, that if the 
policy of the cabinet was not satisfactory to the Prince, the members 
would be obh'ged to tender their resignations. On the next day, 
October 4th, the Prince came into the palace of the Skupstchina, 
accompanied only by an adjutant. After exchanging a few words 
with the ministers, he went alone into the hall of the Skupstchina. 
The ministers followed him. Milan was received by the chamber 
with a deep silence, in the midst of which he arose and announced 
that his ministers had given him their resignations, and he had 
accepted them. Upon this announcement, the ministers retired 
from the hall. Milan continued, that having no ministers through 
whom to communicate with the Skupstchina, he was obliged to 
address it in person. He then asked the deputies, " Have you con- 




ADVANCE SENTINELS. 



INSURRECTION OF 1875, AND WARS OF 1876. 1-3 

fidence in me ? " The astonished members of the Assembly, after 
some hesitation, rephed, ''Yes." The Prince then asked, "Are you 
for ^ar?" The deputies responded at once, ^Yith enthnsiasm, "Yes, 
yes ! " The Prince replied that he did not desire Tvar, and declared 
that in view of the situation of the country and the respect due to 
the vie"\vs of the great powers, he could not wish for it. His re- 
marks Trere received coldly, and the session of the chamber was 
adjourned. Three days afterward. Prince Milan invited all the 
deputies to his palace, and calling their names from the list of 
members of the Skupstchina, put to each singly the question, 
"TVho is for war, who not?" The members, thus appealed to 
on their individual responsibility, were not as ready for war as they 
had been in the chamber, and only twelve of them answered in the 
affirmative, while the rest expressed themselves as opposed to war. 
The Prince then asked, in the same manner, " AVho is in favor of 
our giving suj^port to the insurrectionists ? " and the majority like- 
wise voted against this line of action. A new ministry was ap- 
pomted on the 9th of October, under the direction of Kalievitch, 
former President of the Skupstchina. It represented the same 
political views as the former Ristitch ministry, but its members 
were personally more agreeable to the Prince. Kalievitch intro- 
duced his cabinet to the Skupstchina on the 10th, with an address, 
which embodied a warning ao-ainst induloino- a seK-confidence, 
which the difficulties of the situation and the slender resources of 
Servia would not justify, but admitted the duty of guarding the 
honor and interests of the country and preparing for the future ; and 
uttered the hope that the ministry, supported by the Skuptschina, 
would be able to say to the Prince : " You have trusted us, and we 
have not deceived you. Servia and the Ser^dan cause have received 
from us all that in these times we have been able to give them." 
This address, and the measures of reform which the minister out- 
lined, particularly those looking to the improvement of the de- 
fenses of the country, were received with acclamations. The 
Skupstchina adjourned on the 30th of October. 

The Turkish Government adopted energetic military measures to 
prevent the fm-ther spread of the Herzegovinian insurrection. Be- 
sides the forces which were kept in constant activity in Herzegovina, 
and added to as often as was necessary, it stationed large detach- 
ments throughout Bosnia, and put a formidable corps of observation 
along the Servian frontier. The presence of this latter body added 



174 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



to the warlike excitement in Servia, helped to protract it, in- 
creased the difficulties which Prince Milan had to encounter in pre- 
serving his policy of peace, and called for the presence of bodies of 
Servian troops on the other side of the line. These troops on both 
sides were withdrawn in E'ovember. 

The Porte tried also to satisfy the insurrectionists by measures of 
conciliation. It made many pleasant promises and offered several 
fair-seeming schemes of reform, but these offerings failed to pro- 
duce any perceptible effect ; they rather received the contempt of 
the insurgents, because they had become habituated to regard it as 
an established custom with the Porte to make promises which it 
would fail to see executed. 

On the first of September the Sultan issued a firman to the Gov- 
ernors-General of the provinces, admonishing them to see that the 
laws were fully and promptly executed, and ordering the impartial 
trial of all offenders, so that all the subjects of the Porte without 
distinction might enjoy the greatest security and justice. On the 
second of October an Irade was issued providing for the relief of 
the poorer farmers from one-fourth of the tithes which had been 
recently imposed, and from the arrears of taxes up to the financial 
year 18Y3-'74. It also projected a scheme for the representation 
of the people in the government of the vilayets by a General As- 
sembly of deputies from every district, which should meet once a 
year to discuss concerns of public interest, and should have consider- 
ation of matters relating to the imposition of taxes and the appro- 
priation of the revenues. Deputations from these annual assemblies, 
consisting of persons selected by the Sultan for that purpose, should 
go from time to time to Constantinople to present directly to the 
Porte the wishes of the people. 

On the fourteenth of December the Sultan issued an Irade insti- 
tuting reforms not only for Herzegovina and Bosnia, but for the 
whole Empire. It contained j)i*ovisions relating to the election of 
judges and administrative officers by all subjects of the Porte with- 
out distinction ; for the transfer of lawsuits to the civil courts, and 
measures to prevent arbitrary collection of taxes ; to reform the titles 
to real estate, and restrict the exaction of services for public works ; 
it assured to the people of all religions, and the heads of all relig- 
ious organizations, the right to the free exercise of their respective 
religions and ecclesiastical functions ; guaranteed privileges for 
the foundation of schools, and declared all public offices open to 



INSURRECTION OF 1S75, AND WARS OF 1876. 



non-Moliammedan subjects ; graduated the amoiint of the fee for 
exemption from military duty, and secured the right of holding 
real estate to all non-Mohammedan subjects, together with respect 
for testamentary provisions. 

The three Imperial powers — ^Russia, Austria, and Germany, who 
had long since formed a convention and agreed to act in concert in 
affairs relating to Turkey — had become very anxious to prevent 
a reopening of the Eastern Question, which was now threatened 
by the progi-ess of the Herzegovinian insurrection and the grow- 
ing excitement in the tributary States. They agreed, there- 
fore, that a note, formally expressing their views as to what meas- 
ures were necessary for the pacification of the Turkish Empire, and 
for the security of civilization, should be formally di'awn up in their 
name and presented to the Porte. The framing of this note was 
entrusted to the Austrian Prime Minister, Count Andrassy. Hence 
it is commonly known as the Andrassy note. 

The Andrassy note, which is a very long and elaborate document, 
l^egan by relating the efforts which the European Governments had 
made for the restoration of peace in the disaffected districts, and the 
pains which they had taken at the same time to avoid the appear- 
ance of an interference in Turkish affairs. It referred to the re- 
forms promised in the Irades of the 2d of October and the llth of 
December, as embodying good principles, but as requiring effective 
administration to render them of practical value, and declared that 
they would be useless imtil the country should have been first paci- 
fied. It then detailed the complaints of the Christian inhabitants 
of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and named the measures which it was 
necessary to make of effect in those provinces before the hope of a 
valid peace could be realized, viz : (1). Complete freedom of relig- 
ion ; (2). Abolition of the farming of the taxes ; (3). A law guaran- 
teeing that the revenue from the direct taxes of Bosnia and Herze- 
govina should be applied for the good of the provinces under the 
control of boards constituted in the sense of the firman of Decem- 
ber 14th ; (4). The creation of a special commission, composed in 
equal numbers of Christians and Mohammedans, to superintend the 
execution of the reforms proposed by the powers as well as those 
which had been promised by the Porte ; (5). The improvement of 
the agrarial condition of the rural population. The note reminded 
the Turkish Government that it had not succeeded in putting down 
the insurrection by aims, and expressed the general conviction en- 



176 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



tertained by Cliristians that the coming spring would reinforce it ; 
that Bulgaria and Crete would increase the movement, and Servia 
and Montenegro would be drawn into it. The task of the powers 
who wished to preserve the general peace had become difficult under 
these complications. They could not secure peace by enjoining the 
governments of the principalities, or by pointing to the promises of 
the Porte, for these promises had been broken so often that nobody 
would longer regard them ; but if they could point to indisputable, 
practical reforms, in actual operation, their task would be greatly 
simplified. 

The Andrassy note was completed early in N"ovember, 1875, 
w^as communicated to all of the great Western Powers, and received 
their approval. It was not, however, formally delivered to the Turk- 
ish Government for several weeks, Reshid Pasha, the Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, asking indulgence under various pretexts. The 
threatening attitude of Servia and Montenegro was pleaded as offer- 
ing an impediment to the action demanded in the note ; this was re- 
moved by the withdrawal of the forces of both sides, from the Ser- 
vian frontiers. Then the Irade of the 14th of December provided 
for the introduction of some of the reforms indicated, and the note 
had to be revised and changed to meet the new situation thus created, 
and again approved by all the powers ; so that it was not till the 
31st of January, 1876, that Count Zichy, the Austrian Ambassador 
at Constantinople, was able finally to place it in the hands of Eeshid 
Pasha. The Ambassadors of England, Germany, France, Italy, and 
Russia informed the Turkish Minister that their Governments sup- 
ported the Austrian propositions in all of their points. A few days 
afterward the Ambassadors were informed that a new firman insti- 
tuting reforms, was in preparation for Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
This document appeared on the 11th, and ordered the immediate in- 
stitution in the insurgent districts of complete liberty of worship ; 
reform in the system of taxation ; the sale of waste lands to needy 
inhabitants on easy terms of payment; the institution of mixed 
commissions in the capitals of Bosnia and Herzegovina to insure the 
prompt execution of reforms ; and an increase in the sums applied 
to works of public utility in proportions to be fixed by the mixed 
commissions. It also offered a general amnesty to all disaffected in- 
habitants who would return within four weeks to their obedience. 
The Government further promised to have the houses and churches 
of the returning refugees, w^hich had been destroyed, rebuilt, and to 



INSURRECTION OF 1875, AND WARS OF 1876. 



177 



help those who should return to a new start in business. The answer 
of the Porte to the Andrassy note was delivered to Count Zichy on 
the 20th of February. It promised to give immediate attention to 
the introduction of the measures suggested bj the powers as to four 
of the points, and as soon as possible as to the other. The position 
of the Turkish Government on this subject was also fully explained 
in a circular note which it addressed to its Ambassadors at the Euro- 
pean Courts, calling their attention to the provisions of the Irade of 
the 11th, as embodying most of the principles declared in the An- 
drassy note. The application of the direct taxes to meet the require- 
ments of the provinces, demanded by the powers, was mentioned as 
involving the difficulty that it could not be brought into harmony with 
the general system of administering the Turkish finances, but the 
Government would endeavor to make a satisfactory adjustment of 
that point also. 

On the 1st of January, 1876, Mukhtar Pasha succeeded Pauf 
Pasha, as commander of the Turkish forces in Herzegovina, and 
established his headquarters at Trebigne. The winter's rest was dis- 
turbed only by a few miimportant engagements, when the insurgents 
attacked the provision-trains of the Turks, or surjDrised their detach- 
ments as they struggled along the rough bridle-paths which serve as 
substitutes for roads in that poorly improved region. Some acces- 
sions of Montenegrins came to the insurgents at Zubtchi and Ban- 
yani, about the middle of January. Liubibratish was displaced from 
the leadership of the insurrection, and the position was formally 
assumed by Peko Paulovitch. This officer undertook to give a mili- 
tary organization to the insurgent forces. He arranged his force 
into detachments, over each of which he placed a chief, who should 
be responsible for the strict execution of his orders. Attached to 
his personal staff were the Archimandite Melentitch Perovitch and 
the Catholic Cure Don Juan Musich. His subaltern commanders 
were Milcevitch, Tripko Kikatovitch, Sava Angelitch, Stolan Babitch, 
Luka Petkovitch, and Maksim Bacevitch. The band of Lazar So- 
tchitza continued independent. 

The most noteworthy of the engagements during the winter was a 
sharp action which took place at Muratovizza on the 16th of March, 
when five battalions of Turks, going to provision the fortress of 
Goransko, were attacked by 1,150 insurgents under Peko Paulovitch, 
defeated, and pursued with considerable loss. 

During the winter another attempt was made by the European 



i;8 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Consuls, who had remained at Mostar ever since the failure of their 
Slimmer conferences, to negotiate with the insurgents for a suspen- 
sion of hostilities. By advice of their Governments, they invited the 
Herzegovinian leaders, Febiniary 9th, to confer for a restoration of 
peace on the basis of the propositions of the Andrassy note. But the 
insurgents had lost all faith in diplomatic negotiations as well as in 
Turkish promises of reforms, as means of bettering the condition of 
their country, and refused to consider these terms. The leaders met 
at the Suttorina, February 26th, and issued a manifesto declaring 
their views on the subject. J^o reforms, they said, would be of any 
effect, for the Mohammedans would baffle every attempt that could 
be made in that direction, and would revolt if an effective effort were 
made ; they sought freedom and independence ; for these they would 
light, not negotiate, and would not lay down their arms till they were 
gained, and Herzegovina was granted independence. 

Baron Kodich, Governor of Dalmatia, on behalf of the Austrian 
Government, visited both the Turks and the insurgents in the inter- 
ests of peace. The Turks were ready to.cousider the subject of a sus- 
pension of hostilities, if the provisioning of the garrison at JSTicsic 
was secured. The insurgents firmly maintained the position they 
had assumed. Deputations of refugees declared that they would re- 
sist to the last, and that their families should starve in other coun- 
tries rather than be again subjected to abuse at home ; and the chiefs 
themselves communicated their ultimatum in the beginning of April. 
They demanded that all the Turkish troops in Herzegovina should 
be concentrated at six specified posts ; that the Christians and insur- 
gents should be allowed to keep their arms till the Mohammedans 
w^ere disarmed ; that provisions should be furnished the people to 
last them till the next harvest ; that the collection of the taxes should 
be suspended for three years ; that the Christians should have one- 
third of the lands held by the rayahs on lease, awarded to them ; that 
the reforms proposed in the Andrassy note should be immediately and 
fully carried out in the peaceful parts of the country, so that it could 
be seen how the Mohammedans would act with reference to them ; 
and that a commission of the European powers should be established 
to watch the introduction of the reforms. An informal suspension 
of hostilities ensued from the 28th of March to the 10th of April. 

At the opening of the campaign in the spring of 1876, the in- 
surgents were able to enter the field with a force recruited from the 
Slavic peoples abroad, improved in organization, and well armed. 



MR. EUGENE SCHUYLER. 



INSURRECTION OF 1875, AND WARS OF 1876. 181 



The Turks had, inchicling the garrisons of the forts, about 22,000 
men fit for action. The insurgents had cut off the communication 
of Kicsic with Montenegro whence it had been provisioned during 
the winter, and the supphes of its garrison had run out. Mukhtar 
Pasha tried twice to reheve it, and succeeded on the second attempt, 
only after four days of hard fighting and with heavy losses. The 
other garrisons were supplied wdth less trouble, for the insurgents 
had given all their attention to IS'icsic, and that port was provisioned 
again in tfune without resistance. 

The Servian Government during the earlier months of 18T6 
maintained an attitude of quiet observation, in the midst of popular 
agitations in favor of war. The ministry favored a peaceful policy ; 
the Skupstchina was inclined toward war. As measures of pre- 
caution, a sum was voted for the equipment of the army, and 
a levy of men fit for service was ordered. The expressions of 
Prince Milan to the Austrian representative at Belgrade, were, how- 
ever, of a peaceful term. The public excitement continued to 
grow. The capital was illuminated on the 14th of March in honor 
of the Herzegovinian victory at Muratovizza. Liubibratish, the 
former leader of the insurgents, had organized a force of various 
nationalities in aid of the insurrection, which was captured in 
March by Austrian officers on the territory of Dalmatia. With it 
was captured the Fraulein Markus, a Dutch lady, who, inspired with 
enthusiasm for the Slavic cause, had given it money and was now 
giving it her persona] assistance. On her release she went to 
Belgrade and was received there with an ovation. A few days 
afterward (April 9th) a warlike demonstration was given by the 
Omladina in the shape of a charivari to the Austrian representative 
at Belgrade, for which the Austrian Government demanded and 
received an apology. Finally, the Prince was forced, in May, to 
appoint a new ministry more in sympathy with the public feeling. 
This ministry was called after two of its most prominent members, 
the Ki stitch- Gruitch Ministry. 

The massacre of the French and German Consuls by a Moham- 
medan mob at Salonica on the Yth of May greatly increased the 
excitement among the Christian population of Turke}^, and led to 
renewed protests by the Great Powders. The riot at Salonica was 
occasioned by the appearance at the railway station of a young 
Bulgarian girl wdiom Emin Effendi, a prominent Turk of the town, 

had pro'cured for his harem. The mother of the girl had followed 
10 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



her on tlie same train without either knowing that they were so 
near. Their surprise and demonstrations on meeting each other 
attracted the attention of the crowd, which was mostly composed 
of Christians, and. the cry was raised that the girl had been forced 
to become a Mohammedan and enter Emin Effendi's harem. In the 
tumult which ensu.ed, an empty carriage belonging to the American 
Consul, which was standing by the station, was seized by the Chris- 
tians, and the girl was put into it and carried oft' to a place of safety. 
The Mohammedans were indignant, and the streets were filled all 
the afternoon and the next morning with crowds calling for ven- 
geance for the insnlt that had been offered to Islam. The French 
Consul, apprehending riot, went, accompanied by the German Con- 
sul, who was his brother-in-law, to call npon Emin Effendi to induce 
him to use his influence to restore order. The Effendi was at the 
Mosqne, and the Consuls sought him there. Their appearance in 
the sacred place excited the mob to ferocity. The higher Turks 
tried to protect them without avail. They were fallen npon and 
savagely mnrdered. The Western Governments took the matter 
up immediately and demanded satisfaction for the outrage, and sup- 
ported their demand by the dispatch of war vessels to the spot. 
The most prominent participants in the murders were punished, 
and an indemnity was paid to the families of the murdered Consuls. 

Attention had by this time become painfully directed to the un- 
happy situation of the Bulgarian people. Manifestations of their 
discontent appeared in February, in the shape of demands for relief 
from the burdens imposed upon landholders, supported in a few 
places by the organization of bands of insurgents. Military forces, 
composed partly of regular troops, but mostly of Circassians and 
Bashi-Bazouks, were dispatched to the province to repress these 
manifestations. The irresponsible irregular soldiery, who are sub- 
ject to only the loosest discipline, began a career of plunder, out- 
rage, and destruction, which has few, if any, parallels in the annals 
of civilized warfare. They made no distinction between orderly 
and disorderly inhabitants, spared no age nor either sex, but exer- 
cised violence upon all according to their caprice. The stories that 
were told of the rapine, murders, burning of houses and villages, 
outrages upon women, and abductions of girls, were almost incredi- 
ble, and were so considered and not believed at first, but they have 
been confirmed in their worst details by unimpeachable testimony. 

These atrocities excited universal astonishment and horror when 



INSURRECTION OF 1875, AND WARS OF 1876. 183 



their full extent and nature had been made known. Mr. W. E. 
Gladstone, late Premier of the British Cabinet, was prompted by 
them to w^rite a pamphlet full of burning denunciation of the ad- 
ministration in power in Great Britain, for its attempt to palliate 
the enormity of the offenses and its toleration of the Turkish Gov- 
ernment, which, knowing that they had been committed, had not 
taken efficient measures to bring the perpetrators of them to justice. 
In this pamphlet, he pronounced them ''the basest and blackest 
outrages upon record within the present century, if not within the 
memory of man," and characterized them as " crimes and outrages 
so vast in scale as to exceed all modern example, and so unutterably 
vile as well as fierce in character, that it pains the power of heart to 
conceive, and of tongue and pen adequately to describe them." 

Mr. Gladstone's denunciations are justified by the testimony of 
responsible persons who visited the scenes of the outrages, ques- 
tioned the friends of the victims, and looked upon the wasted 
villages. Among these persons were missionaries of the American 
Board, the correspondent of the London Daily Neios^ and Mr. 
Eugene Schuyler, United States Secretary of Legation at Constan- 
tinople. A strip of country south of the Balkan Mountains, about 
thirty miles wide and one hundred miles long, was wholly or par- 
tially desolated, and in this district seventy towns were given up 
to massacre, plunder, and fire. The number of persons who were 
murdered, in most cases with fiendish brutality, was estimated by 
Mr. Baring, an agent sent by the British Minister at Constantinople, 
to make inquiry on the subject, at twelve thousand, and by Mr. 
Eugene Schuyler at fifteen thousand at " the lowest." 

Four days were spent in ravaging Panijurishta, or Otlukloi, 
which was regarded as the focus of the insurrection. The town was 
filled with inhabitants of the neighboring towns, whose houses had 
been already destroyed, and who had taken refuge here. Twenty- 
nine hundred people were slain, of whom two thousand were 
refugees from the other towns, and nine hundred were inhabitants 
of Panijurishta. About one-third of the place was destroyed. The 
churches were desecrated in every manner that sacrilegious in- 
genuity could suggest. An old blind man, who had earned the 
good- will of the whole town, was shut up in his house and burned ; 
another man was deprived of his eyes ; and a third was first mu- 
tilated upon the altar, then covered with petroleum, and burned. 
" The sinners," says a correspondent of the Cologne Gazette^ relating 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



the story of the outrage, " whom Dante places in hell along with 
his old teacher, Buenetto Latini, were true saints, as compared with 
the Turkish hordes of Panijurishta." Similar scenes were enacted, 
with such differences in details as might be occasioned by differences 
in the size and situation of the towns, through the whole of the 
ravaged district. The culminating outrages were committed at 
Batak, a town of about nine thousand inhabitants, situated in the 
Khodope Mountains, about nine hours' journey south of Tatar- 
Bazardjik. It was one of the most prosperous and entei-prising 
towns of the region, and was engaged in extensive manufacturing 
industries. The Bashi-Bazouks came to this place on the 12th of 
May, and spent five days in their work of devastation. Mr. 
Djorbajik, a chief officer of the town, was impaled on a spit, and 
roasted alive ; women were stripped, deprived of their jewels, out- 
raged, and all were killed. Finally the town was burned and 
utterly destroyed, and its inhabitants given to wholesale massacre, 
which only twelve hundred succeeded in escaping. 

This place was visited by the correspondent of the London Daily 
News^ with Mr. Schuyler, on the 18th of August, three months 
after the massacre took place. The correspondent describes the 
scene as of the most horrible character. Approaching the town the 
party found skulls, of which the writer of the account counted one 
hundred from the saddle, all of women and children. ''We en- 
tered the town," he continues, " on every side were skulls and 
skeletons charred among the ruins, or lying entire where they fell 
in their clothing. There were skeletons of girls and women with 
long brown hair hanging to the skulls. We approached the church. 
There these remains were more frequent, until the ground was 
literally covered with skeletons, skulls, and putrefying bodies in 
clothing. Between the church and the school there were heaps. . . 
. . The whole church-yard, for three feet deep, was festering with 

dead bodies partly covered I saw many hands, heads, and 

feet of children of three years of age, and girls with heads cov- 
ered with beautiful hair. The church was still new There 

were three thousand bodies in the church-yard and church 

In the school, a fine building, two hundred women and children 
had been burned ahve. All over the town there were the same 
scenes." The skulls were all separated from the bodies, showing 
that the women and girls had been beheaded. 

Similar outrages, but less heinous, were committed north of the 



INSURRECTION OF 1875, AND WARS OF 1876. 185 

Balkans, near Tirnova and Gabrova, where it was estimated that 
three thousand Bulgarians were murdered. An attempt was made 
to palliate the outrages on the ground that previous atrocities had 
been committed by Bulgarians. This is contradicted by Mr. Schuy- 
ler, who says in his report : "1 have carefully investigated this 
point, and am unable to find that the Bulgarians committed any 
atrocities, or any act which deserves that name. I have vainly 
tried to obtain from the Turkish officials a list of such outrages. 
.... ]^o Turkish women or children were killed in cold blood. 
iTo Mussulman women were violated. No purely Turkish village 
was attacked or burned. ITo Mussulman's home was pillaged. I^o 
mosque was desecrated or destroyed." 

Mr. Walter Baring was sent to Adrianople in July, to investigate 
the truth of the reports of the insurrection and outrages, and ascer- 
tain their exact extent. His report, which was published on the 
19th of September, is doubtless as favorable to the Turks as adher- 
ence to the truth would allow it to be, but it in no way mitigates 
the horror excited by the accounts from which we have just quoted. 
Mr. Baring confirmed the assertion that a real insurrection had been 
planned, and stated that the schoolmasters, many of whom had been 
educated in Bussia and were Pan-Slavists, and the priests were the 
leading movers in it. A meeting of eighty agitators had been held 
at Otlukoi on the 31st of March, at which the general rising was 
appointed for the 13th of May. Their plan was to destroy as much 
of the railroad as possible ; burn Adrianople, Philippopolis, Sofia, 
Tatar-Bazardjik, and several other places, and occupy others ; attack 
the Turkish and mixed villages, and kill all Mussulmans who resisted 
and take their property, and to force all the Bulgarians into the in- 
surrection, l^one of this was done, for the movement was sup- 
pressed, and the massacres were perpetrated before the time ap- 
pointed for the plans to be carried into effect. "]^o sooner," says 
Mr. Baring, ^' did the regular troops appear on the scene than the 
insurrection was at an end, and much bloodshed and useless destruc- 
tion of property would have been spared had they only been des- 
patched somewhat earlier." After describing the scene at Batak in 
nearly the same terms as were used by the correspondent of the 
London Daily JSfews, Mr. Baring expressed the belief that the 
Turkish authorities were not aware, before he visited the place, of 
the horrors that had been committed there ; for the town was re- 
mote and difficult of access, and no one had gone there " who was 



i86 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



likely to give the authorities a faithful account of what he saw." 
Finally, in summing up the evidence, Mr. Baring was constrained 
to say that " the manner in which the rising was suppressed was in- 
human in the last degree, fifty innocent persons suffering for every 
guilty one." The total number of Mussulmans killed during the 
Vv^hole disturbance was about 163. 

A commission was despatched by the Turkish Government to 
visit the scene of the outrages and investigate their character. It 
succeeded in making an estimate of the magnitude of the crimes so 
moderate as to appear ridiculous by the side of the verified accounts 
of the English and American observers. Tribunals were instituted 
for the trial of the Bulgarian agitators, numbers of whom were 
executed. Some of the Bashi-Bazouks and others who participated 
in the outrage were executed ; but Shevket Pasha, who had com- 
mand of the district, was continued in high command through the 
whole of 18Y7, and Achmet Agha, who commanded the troops at 
Batak, received the order of the Medjidie. With all its efforts at 
explanation and its pretenses to do justice, the Porte failed to re- 
move the evil impression which the cruelties made upon the world, 
and was not able to disconnect itself fully from the responsibility 
for them. 

The situation in the disaffected provinces had grown no better, 
but rather w^orse. The three great powers who had taken the lead 
in action with reference to Turkish affairs, decided that a new rep- 
resentation should be made to the Porte. The Prime Ministers of 
Pussia, Germany, and Austria met at Berlin on the 12th and 13th 
of May, and agreed upon the memorandum which is known as the 
Berlin note. This paper set forth that the Porte by accepting the 
Andrassy note hadv pledged itself to Europe to carry out its sugges- 
tions, and that the powers had a right to demand the fulfillment of 
its pledge. The Sultan had done nothing in this direction, and the 
massacre at Salonica was attributable to his weakness. An armistice 
of two months should at once be concluded with the insurgents, at 
the end of which, if the object sought by the powers were not 
gained, it would be necessary to consider what effective measures 
should be taken in the interests of a general peace, and to prevent 
the development of further difiiculties. The note was promptly ap- 
proved by France and Italy. Great Britain declined to give its 
sanction, on account of objections to the clause respecting " effective 
measures." 




ABDUL-AZIZ -LATE SULTAN OF TURKEY. 



INSURRECTION OF 1875, AND WARS OF 1876. 189 

The massacre at Salonica was followed by a change in the minis- 
try at Constantinople. The ostensible head of the new cabinet was 
Rushdi Pasha, appointed Grand Yizier, but it was largely under the 
influence of Midh^it Pasha, one of the most eminent and able of 
the Mussulman statesmen, who took a place in the council without a 
portfolio. Before the end of May the ministry co-operating with 
the Softas, or students of Mohammedan theology, procured the de- 
position of Sultan Abdul Aziz. Alleging that the faculties of the 
Sultan had become disordered, so that he was not only not fit to en- 
gage in public business, but that his continued rule threatened ruin 
to the Empire and the Mussulman cause, the conspirators obtained 
from the Sheik-ul-Islam, the supreme authority in Mohammedan 
law, a decision that it was lawful to depose him. Armed with this 
decision, the ministers arrested the Sultan, and took him a prisoner 
to the -Palace of Top Kapu, and afterward to the Palace of Tcher- 
agan. Murad Effendi, the eldest son of the late Sultan Abdul 
Medjid, and nephew of the deposed Sultan, the legal heir to the 
throne, was installed Sultan under the title of Murad Y., on the 
30th of May. On the morning of the 4th of June, Abdul Aziz 
was found dead in his chamber in the Palace of Tcheragan. A 
council of nineteen physicians of different nationalities was called 
to hold an inquest over him. They decided, unanimously, that he 
had killed himself by cutting his veins with a pair of scissors. 

The probability of war between Servia and Turkey became every 
day more strong. The Ristitch-Gruitch ministry were in favor of 
war, but they hesitated to take the decisive steps, because they saw 
that the country was not sufficiently prepared for it, and that it lacked 
the means of making speedy preparations. A decree for the issue of 
a loan of twelve million francs was issued on the 24th of May. The 
Russian General Tchernayeff was appointed a general in the Servian 
army, with the understanding that he would be the commander-in- 
chief. On the 26th of May an alliance was concluded with Montene- 
gro. On the 9th of June the Porte asked what these and other war- 
like movements meant. The Servians replied that they desired to 
preserve peace, and had no design of disturbing the integrity of the 
Porte. They agreed to send a messenger to Constantinople to con- 
sult with the Porte concerning the demands of the situation. On 
the 29th of June, the Servian agent in Constantinople presented to 
the Porte a demand which Servia and Montenegro had agreed to 
make, that Turkey should entrust the pacification of Bosnia and the 



190 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Herzegovina to those States, in consideration for which Servia should 
receive Bosnia and Montenegro, and Herzegovina, they agreeing to 
render homage and pay tribute to the Porte for those districts, as 
Servia ah'eadj did for her own territory. This demand was, of 
course, refused. Prince Milan went to join the army on the 29th 
of June. He issued a proclamation to the people, in which he said 
that he had intended to send an Ambassador to Constantinople to seek 
an understanding with the Porte, but that that power had showed, in 
every way, that it did not wish for an understanding. It had sent 
troops upon troops to the frontier prepared to enter Servia at any 
time. Servia must avert this danger, and itself enter the insurgent 
provinces to restore peace and order. It would respect the religion 
and integrity of Turkey. On the 2d of July the country was de- 
clared in a state of siege. 

The Prince of Montenegro also raised the banner of war, and 
placed himself at the head of his troops for an active campaign on 
the 2d of July. Montenegro had not taken an open active part 
against Turkey, during the whole insurrectionary movement, until 
the alliance with Servia was negotiated in May. The Herzegovinian 
insurrection had excited a lively sympathy in Montenegro, and the 
Turks had accused that State of giving it help and encouragement. 
Nevertheless, the Turks relied upon the Montenegrins to provision 
their garrison at JSTicsic, during the winter of 1875-'7 6, and it was pro- 
\ visioned by them from day to day, until its communications were cat 

off by the insurgents. Early in 1876, the Turkish Yali of Herze- 
govina had made a vain attempt to induce the Prince of Montenegro 
to take arms against the insurgents. The Montenegrin declaration 
of war was based upon the allegations that the Turks had quite block- 
aded the southern frontier of Montenegro, that they had shown hos- 
tility to the State, had interrupted its trade, and kept it continually 
uneasy ; and that it was impossible for them to carry out the reforms 
which they had promised to introduce in Herzegovina. 

When the war was declared, the Turks had available, for opera- 
tions against Servia and Montenegro, a force of about one hundred 
thousand men. About twenty thousand men were in Herzegovina, 
north of Montenegro, under Mukhtar Pasha, and between four and 
five thousand men were posted south of Montenegro. On the Dan- 
ube were about fifty thousand men, commanded by Eyub Pasha, and 
including the divisions of Osman Pasha and Fazyl Pasha. Between 
fourteen and fifteen thousand men were in J^orth-westem and South- 



INSURRECTION OF 1875. AND WARS OF 1876. 191 

western Bosnia. Besides all these forces, there were about tliirty 
thousand men about Philippopolis, commanded by Abdul Keriin 
Pasha, who had been sent up against the Bulgarian insurgents. 
Large additions were made to these forces, for which even the 
remote Asiatic corps were drawn upon, as soon as war was de- 
clared. 

The Servian forces were posted in four bodies : The army of the 
Drina, twenty thousand men, under General Alimpitch ; the army 
of the Ibar, about twenty thousand men, under General Zach ; the 
southern army, which was their principal force, about forty-live 
thousand men, under General Tchernayeff ; and the army of the 
Timok, twenty thousand men, under General Lieshanin. 

The Servian divisions all moved immediately after war was de- 
clared. Gen. Lieshanin crossed the Timok with six thousand men 
on the 2d of July, intending to advance against Widin. He was re- 
pulsed near Karaul with serious losses, and obliged to return. On 
the next day Osman Pasha crossed into Servia, and forced the Servians 
to abandon their fortifications on the right bank of the Timok, but 
was not able to pursue his advantage. 

On the morning of the 3d of July, Gen. Alimpitch crossed the 
Drina with fifteen battalions, and marched with three columns upon 
Bielina. He captured the fortifications, but was driven out of the 
town after having entered it, and compelled to retreat in disorder. 
He returned to his original position, strengthened his defenses, and 
pushed forward from day to day, until, finally, after the evacuation 
of Little Zvornick by the Turks, he gained possession of both banks 
of the Drina. Gen. Zach crossed the frontier near Javor, on a rough 
road, very difficult for artillery, to advance upon Sienitza. He met 
a Turkish force under Mehemet Ali Pasha, July 6th, was repulsed 
and obliged to retreat. He was wounded in the engagement, became 
discouraged in consequence of his defeat, fell sick, and was relieved 
by Col. Tcholak Antitch. 

Gen. Tchernayeif, of the army of the South, having ordered Col. 
Milan I vanovitch to make a demonstration against IN^issa as a feint, 
marched himself, with the larger part of his army, against Ak Pal- 
anka, which point, with Pirot, he captured on the 6th of July. He 
had expected to excite a rising among the Bulgarians and receive 
reinforcements from them. He was disappointed in this, and on the 
10th of July evacuated Ak Palanlva and Pirot, and returned to Ser- 
via. The remainder of July was occupied with movements and 



192 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



skimiishes wMcb. were "animportant in their nature and had no im- 
portant results. 

The Montenegrins entered upon their campaign with vigor. The 
larger part of their little army was massed on the northern frontier, 
ready to march into Herzegovina and co-operate with the insm-gents 
there. A small force was kept near the sonthem boundary of the 
State to hold in check the Turkish garrisons in the neighboring 
towns of Albania. The first operations wore directed against 
Gatchko and the columns of Selim Pasha. On the 11th of July a 
sharp engagement took place between a part of their force and a 
command of Selim Pasha's ; on the same day Prince Nicholas occu- 
pied Stolatz, and another force di^ove a Turkish command near Klek. 
The Montenegrins were successful in engagements with Selim Pasha 
on the 16th and lYth of July, but on the 18th they were attacked 
by Mukhtar Pasha, with a stronger force, and defeated. Mukhtar 
Pasha, following them to cut off their retreat, was surprised by them 
shortly after leaving the cloister of Plana on the 28th. The Bashi- 
Bazouks were struck with panic and ran away, and some of the 
regular forces shared their disorder. The Montenegrins, perceiving 
this, fell upon the Turks with vigor, cut them up severely, and cap- 
tured Osman Pasha, the commander of one of their columns. 
Mukhtar Pasha retreated to Trebigne, and called for reinforcements. 
On the 2d of September he again crossed the Montenegrin frontier 
and intrenched himself at Saslap, where a Montenegrin force stood 
opposed to him, but no important engagement took place. 

In the south the Montenegrins had blockaded Medun. Mahmoud 
Pasha attacked them on the 16th of August and was routed. lie 
was court-martialled and superseded by Dervish Pasha, who, on the 
6th of September, made an attempt against Pogatzi, on the north 
bank of the Moratcha. The Montenegrins fell upon his force from 
their superior positions on the rocks, and routed it with a terrible 
loss. Another attempt, September 11th, against the heights of 
"Welie Brdo, on the right bank of the Zeta, hkewise met with dis- 
aster. 

Toward the end of July the Turks began a combined operation 
against the line of the Tim ok, in which were engaged the command 
of Achmet Eyub Pasha, supported by the divisions of Suleiman 
Pasha and Osman Pasha. The principal objective points on this 
line were Gurgussovatz and Saitchar, with their dependent posts. 

On the 28th of July, Osman Pasha made a demonstration against 



INSURRECTION OF 1875, AND WARS OF 1876. 193 



tlie advanced posts of Gen. Lieshanin, and forced him to retreat 
to Saitchar. As this place could not long hold out against an earnest 
attack, it was ordered to be evacuated. The inhabitants removed all 
of their effects, and left the neighborhood. Gen. Lieshanin retired 
with his forces to the west, and left Saitchar to be occupied bj Os- 
man Pasha on the 6th of August. 

In co-operation with this movement, Hafiz Pasha attacked the 
Servians at Gramada, and compelled them to withdraw to Gurgus- 
sovatz, while Suleiman Pasha, crossing into Servia near Pandiralo, 
obliged Gen. Horvato^dtch to abandon his posts on the border and 
concentrate his force at Tresibaba, south of Gurgussovatz. The two 
Turkish columns were now joined. Achmet Eyub Pasha took com- 
mand in person, attacked Tresibaba, drove Horvatovitch into Gur- 
gussovatz, and compelled him to evacuate that place also on the 6th 
of August. 

These movements had been made with the view of advancing upon 
Alexinatz, the ultimate object of the Turkish campaign from Widin. 
But the Turks had hardly possessed themselves of the two chief 
points on the line of the Timok than their plans were changed, and 
it was decided that the advance against Alexinatz should be made 
from Xissa, on the southern, or Bulgarian Morava. Accordingly, 
Gurgussovatz and Saitchar were evacuated, and by the 20th of August, 
Horvatovitch was again in possession of all the posts he had occu- 
pied near the former place. 

The Turks, having concentrated their forces at Nissa, with Abdul 
Kerim Pasha in command, began their attacks against Alexinatz on 
the 19th of August. Six days of hard fighting ensued, till the 24th, 
which have collectively received the name of the battle of Alexinatz. 
The Servians fought with vigor, and held all their essential positions. 
The Turks, having failed to carry their point, and having learned 
that Horvatovitch was coming up from Gurgussovatz to attack their 
right flank, fell back exhausted, on the morning of the 25th, upon 
Katun. The Servian loss in these battles was 1,613 killed and 
wounded ; that of the Turks was considerably greater, but is not ex- 
actly known. 

Abdul Kerim Pasha again changed his plans, and determined to 
gather his army on the left bank of the Morava, extending it further 
to the west, and going around Alexinatz and Deligrad, to descend 
the valley on that side. He proceeded to attempt this movement on 
the 28th of August. Tchernayeff was surprised on the 1st of Sep- 



194 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



tember, and an engagement ensued by wliicb the Servians were com- 
pelled to retreat in disorder. The Servians would have been placed 
in great peril, but the Turks, suffering from a shortness of supplies, 
were obliged to remain quiet while Tchernajeff reorganized his 
forces. Unimportant engagements occurred on the 7th, 10th, 11th, 
and 13th of September. On the 16th, hostihties were suspended 
for ten days by the operation of an armistice. 

While the military movements were in progress, changes of mnch 
importance had taken place in the Turkish Government, and the 
condition and relations of the belligerent parties had been made the 
subject of new negotiations with the Great Powers. The reign of 
Murad Y. as Sultan was brief and inglorious. The deposition and 
death of Sultan Abdul Aziz had been followed on the 15th of June 
by the murder of Hussein Avni, Minister of War, and Reshid 
Pasha, Minister of Foreign Affairs, while at a cabinet council, to- 
gether with the Grand Admiral and a retainer of one of the minis- 
ters, by the assassin Hassan Bey, who was seeking to gratify a per- 
sonal animosity. In less than three months, Murad proved to be 
physically and mentally incompetent. He fell into fits of melan- 
choly and stupor, and was declared incurable. The Sheik-ul-Islam 
was again consulted, and decided that it was lawful to depose him. 
He was accordingly deposed on the last day of August. Abdd 
Hamid, a younger brother of Murad's, the next in the order of suc- 
cession, was named as the new Snltan, and was girded with the 
sword of Othman on the 7th of September. He issued an Imperial 
Hat^ or decree, on the 9th of September, confirming the former min- 
isters and higher officers in their positions, and making the promises 
of reforms which are customary with the new Sultans of Turkey. 
Abdul Kerim Pasha having gone to the field to take the command 
of the army, Halil Pedif Pasha was appointed Minister of War in 
his place, and Savfet Pasha was appointed Minister of Foreign 
Affairs in place of the assassinated Peshid Pasha. 

The Servian Government about this time narrowly escaped being 
placed in an embarrassing position through the indiscreet action of 
Gen. Tchernayeff and his officers, who, at a festival given at Deligrad 
on the 16th of September, proclaimed Prince Milan King of Servia. 
That more than an after-dinner compliment was intended was assured 
by the formal publication of the proclamation on the next day to the 
army, and the reading of an address to King Milan I., Obrenovitch, 
as in the name of the heroic Servian people." A deputation was 



INSURRECTION OF 1875, AND WARS OF 1876. 



197 



sent up from the army to communicate the proceedings to Milan, 
and to invite him to accept the honor which tliey had tendered to 
him. The act was disquieting to the neighboring powers, and might 
have been made a serious obstacle to the progress of the negotiations, 
but that Prince Milan disavowed all complicity with it, and caused 
the deputation from the army to be sent back before it had reached 
the capital. 

Skirmishing had been going on through September between the 
Turks and Servians on the Morava and around Alexinatz. It had 
hardly been interrupted by the nominal suspension of hostilities 
between the 16th and 25th. The first important engagement was 
the battle of Weliki Shiliegovatz, on the 19th of October, one of the 
results of which was that the Turks got a better position as against 
the Servians. It was followed on the 23d by another movement, by 
which the Turks gained positions on the Djunis stream, enabling 
them to divide the Servian army. The Servians were again de- 
feated on the 29th of October in the battle of Trubarevo. G-eneral 
Horvatovitch was driven back upon Krushevatz, and General 
Tchemayeff was compelled to retreat to Deligrad and abandon Alexi- 
natz. On the next day the Turks fired upon Alexinatz, and were 
not answered. On the 31st they fired upon it again, and, receiving 
no reply, entered the place, to find it empty of men and pro^dsions. 

The Servian army was in a desperate condition. It had suffered 
many defeats and had been compelled to abandon the strongest for- 
tified position of the country. It had also been disturbed by inter- 
nal dissensions and quarrels between its Russian and Servian ele- 
ments, and was so demoralized that it was nearly broken up. The 
Servian cause seemed certain to be lost, when Russia saved it on 
the evening of the last day of October, by presenting to the Porte 
an ultimatum demanding immediate assent to the armistice. 

Quite different was the situation at this time in Montenegro. The 
suspension of hostilities had been well observed here. On the 9th 
of October, Mukhtar Pasha made an attack on the Montenegrins, but 
thev turned upon him, drove him out of his intrenchments, and sent 
him into Turkish territory. The Turks were also defeated in lighter 
engagements at Liubigne and Bilek. On the southern border of the 
State, Dervish Pasha undertook to invade the country along the 
Zeta. He had advanced a short distance when he was attacked at 
Zagarash, October 16th, and decisively defeated. Fort Medun ca- 
pitulated on the 21st of October, and not only was Montenegro free 



198 THE WAR IN THE EAST. 

from tbe yjreseiice of tlie Turks, but the Montenegrins had gained 
positions on Turkish territory. 

The progress of events in the Balkan peninsula was observed 
with interest bj the people of all Europe. The Russians sympa- 
thized deeply in the struggles of their Slavic brethren, and gave 
them moral and material aid, so that especially in the latter part of 
the campaign the Servian army was considerably reinforced by 
Russian recruits, and largely under the command of Russians as 
officers. The Government took no pains to repress these manifes- 
tations, but rather encouraged them by public utterances in favor of 
the Slavic cause, and by making preparations which indicated that 
war in their behalf was not improbable. In its diplomatic commu- 
nications it spoke more freely of righting the wrongs of the Slavic 
people, less of the necessity of preserving peace. The English 
people were powerfully moved by the reports of the outrages which 
had been committed in Bosnia and Bulgaria by the unrestrained 
Turkish soldiery, and made, through the press and public meetings, 
demonstrative protests against the conciliatory course of their Gov- 
ernment. The British Government, committed to its traditional 
policy of preserving the integrity of the Turkish Empire, and oppos- 
ing whatever might look like aggressive movements by Russia, was 
slow to support the other powers in their demands upon the Ottoman 
Government for guarantees of the reforms which it could not 'be 
denied were necessary, and was often credited with having suggested 
to the Porte the ingenious counter - propositions with which it 
answered every successive demand of the powers and evaded imme- 
diate decisive action. The other powers professed to regard the 
questions at issue solely from the point of their own interests, and 
to favor what would most readily restore and preserve peace, but 
declined to commit themselves in advance as to what their course 
would be should matters come to a breach. 

While the summer campaigns were going on in Servia, the powers 
were trying, at both Belgrade and Constantinople, to arrange a settle- 
ment. The Servians averred that they were fighting for Sla\dc 
freedom, and would accept no other solution. The Porte pleaded 
that it was preparing, as fast as possible, a scheme for reforms and 
self-government that would embrace the whole Empire, and could 
not be hurried. Finally, on the 14th of September, Savfet Pasha 
communicated the terms on which the Ottoman Government would 
make peace. They were : That the Prince of Servia should pay 



INSURRECTION OF 1875, AND WARS OF 1876. 199 

homage to tlie Sultan ; that four fortresses which had been given 
up to him in 1867 should be again occupied by the Turks ; that the 
Servian militia should be abolished, and the number of troops 
allowed for the preservation of order in the interior of the princi- 
pality limited ; that Servia should return to their homes all the 
refugees from other provinces within its territory and destroy the 
fortresses which it had recently built ; that the amount of tribute 
paid by Servia should be increased so as to cover the interest on a 
war indemnity ; that the Turkish Government should be allowed to 
build and operate a railway from Belgrade to ITissa, and that the 
relations with Montenegro should be the same as before the war. 
The powers replied on the 23d, ignoring all the points of the Turkish 
position, asking self-government for Bosnia and Herzegovina, a sea- 
port to be given to Montenegro, an improved organization for 
Bulgaria, with a Christian governor to be appointed by the Porte, 
and as to Servia, a restoration of the status quo, except that an in- 
demnity might be charged for the damage occasioned by the war. 
An informal suspension of hostilities was obtained from the 16th to 
the 25th of September. 

On the 7th of October the representatives of the powers called 
for an armistice of six weeks. The Porte responded with a proposi- 
tion for an armistice of six months, and at the same time communi- 
cated the draft of a Constitution which had been prepared for the 
whole Empire, embodying the principles and more important pro- 
visions of the most liberal constitutions of European States, together 
with laws which had been framed for the better organization of the 
civil administrations and courts of justice, and for the more equitable 
collection of taxes in the provinces. 

General Ignatieff, the Eussian Ambassador at the Porte, had re- 
tamed to Constantinople after an absence of several weeks, and 
renewed the demand of his Government for a concession of the 
autonomy of the provinces and the introduction of the promised 
reforms, and for an armistice, during which the reforms should be 
carried into execution. While he was waiting for the answer of the 
Sultan, the Turkish victories at Trubarevo had placed the Servian 
army in imminent peril.. He was then instructed by his Government 
to present the Russian ultimatum. He had an interview with 
Savfet Pasha on the afternoon of the 31st of October, at which he 
stated that the rising in Servia and Montenegro had excited in the 
Russian nation a lively, enthusiastic interest. The Czar, who shared 



200 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



in tlie sympathies of his people for the Christian inhabitants of the 
Balkan peninsula, had endeavored with the other powers to restore 
peace and order. They were all agreed that the States involved in 
the complications should he restored to as good a condition as they 
enjoyed before the war, and that continued bloodshed was useless. 
The Czar conld not suffer any longer protraction of the negotiations 
respecting an armistice ; therefore he had decided to withdraw his 
entire embassy from Constantinople, if within forty-eight hours 
from this time an unconditional armistice of from six weeks to two 
months, embracing all the combatants, and involving an entire sus- 
pension of military operations, were not in operation. Having 
delivered the note. General Ignatieff made ostensible preparations 
to leave Constantinople. The next day (Kovember 1st) he re- 
ceived the answer of Savfet Pasha conveying the unconditional 
agreement of the Porte to an armistice of two months, beginning 
with that day. On the 4th of November, Earl Derby, in behalf of 
the British Government, issued a circular note calling for a confer- 
ence of all the great powers, at which the Porte should also be rep- 
resented, to meet at Constantinople. The circular proposed as a 
basis for the deliberations of the conference : — the independence and 
territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire ; a declaration that the 
powers ^\nll not seek for any territorial advantages, exclusive influ- 
ence, or special concessions ; the basis of pacification to be the terms 
which had been proposed to the Porte on the 21st of September, 
including the restoration of the status quo in Servia and Mon- 
tenegro, and the undertaking by the Porte in a protocol to be 
signed at Constantinople with the representatives of the mediating 
powers, to grant to Bosnia and Herzegovina a system of local or ad- 
ministrative autonomy, with guarantees of a similar kind to be pro- 
vided against maladministration in Bulgaria ; the reforms already 
agreed to by the Porte in February, 1876, to be included in the ad- 
ministrative arrangements for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and, so far 
as they might be applicable, for Bulgaria. The powers all gave 
their assent to the proposition for a conference, Turkey responding 
last, with hesitation, and only at the pressing request of England, 
on the 18th of ITovember. Lord Derby had proposed that each 
power should send a special Ambassador to attend the conference, in 
addition to its regular representative at the Porte. Austria sent 
Baron Calice to act as the associate of its Ambassador, Count Zichy ; 
France, Count Chaudordy, to support Count Bourgoing ; England, 



INSURRECTION OF 1S75, AND WARS OF 1876. 



the Marquis of Salisbury, to act witli Sir Henry Elliot, and Turkey 
recalled Edhem Pasha from Berlin to assist its Foreign Minister, 
Savfet Pasha. Of these special envoys, the Marquis of Salisbury 
was a distinguished statesman and publicist of England, a writer of 
considerable fame. He had been Secretary of State for India in 
the thii'd Cabinet of Lord Derby, 1866 to 1867, and had at the time 
of his appointment on this mission held the same position in the 
Cabinet of Mr. Disraeli (or Earl Beaconsfield) since 1874. He was 
kno^vn to take a warm interest in the welfare of the Christian sub- 
jects of Turkey, being associated with Earl Derby as one of the 
members of the cabinet who opposed the tendency of their chief to 
regard the question from the Turkish point of view ; and in con- 
nection with this mission, he visited several of the continental 
courts to consult with then* ministers reo^ardino: the measures which 
it would be possible to take in the interests of peace and humanity. 

Count Chaudordy, the French envoy, had been in the French dip- 
lomatic service a large part of the time since 1850. In 1870, as 
representative of the Foreign Office at Tom^s, he published several 
circulars in answer to the notes of Count Bismarck, and repelled the 
charges made by the German Chancellor that the French had been 
guilty of violations of the Convention of Geneva. He was chosen 
a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1871, and took his seat 
on the Right. At the time of his appointment to Constantinople^ 
he was Ambassador to Madrid. 

A preliminary conference was opened on the 12th of December, 
of the representatives of all the powers except Turkey, to arrange 
a programme of the conditions which it should be judged necessary 
to require for the protection of the Christians of the Balkan, 
provinces. This conference adjom-ned on the 21st, having agreed 
to demand the restoration of the status quo as to Servia and Mon- 
tenegro, with the addition of the cession of Little Zvornik by Turkey 
to Seiwia, and the rectification of the boundaries of Montenegro, by' 
giving to it those angles of Herzegovina which project into its ter-- 
ritory about Trebigne and I^icsic ; a considerable extension of Bul- 
garia to the west and south, and the division of the territory thus 
enlarged into two Yilayets, with local self-government, under a 
Governor- General for the two provinces, to be appointed by the 
Porte with the approval of the powers, a provincial assembly, 
militia, police force, and gendarmerie, composed of Christians 
and Mussulmans; the union of Bosnia and Herzegovina into one 



202 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



provincej with similar privileges of administration ; and the institu- 
tion of an international commission, to be appointed by the guaran- 
teeing powers, to watch over the introduction of the reforms, and 
be supported by a foreign gendarmerie. 

The conference proper was opened on the 23d of December, Sav- 
f et Pasha, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, presiding. The Tm'ks 
had prepared a dramatic incident to add effect to their part of the 
proceedings. As soon as the prehminary formalities of the opening 
of the conference were over, salvos of artillery were heard. The 
President explained that this demonstration was in honor of the 
adoption of the new Constitution, the proclamation of which placed 
Turkey on that day in the rank of Constitutional States. This Con- 
stitution was the work of Midhat Pasha, who had, a short time 
before, succeeded Rushdi Pasha as Grand Vizier, and was promul- 
gated as the fundamental law of the whole Empire. It embodied 
the leading principles of the most liberal constitutions of TVestern 
Europe. Proclaiming the Empire indivisible with the Sultan as 
Caliph and sovereign supreme and inviolable, it declared the in- 
violability of personal freedom, property, and the domicile, the 
freedom of religious worship, while Mohammedanism should, be the 
reh'gion of the State, the equality of all subjects before the law, and 
their right to speedy and impaiiial justice, the freedom of the press 
and instruction, while primary instruction should be made obliga- 
tory. It made the ministry responsible, and established a legislative 
Assembly, to consist of Senators appointed by the Sultan for life, 
and a Chamber of Deputies, whose members should be chosen by 
the people by secret ballot, in the proportion of one deputy for 
every fifty thousand inhabitants, and should serve for four years ; 
the deputies to be free in their votes and unrestricted in the ex- 
pression of their opinions ; the Legislature to be in session eveiy 
year from November till March. It established elective provincial 
assemblies, to legislate for the provinces, cantonal and municipal 
councils, made regulations for the courts, consisting of a High Court, 
for the trial of official offenders, a com't of cassation or accounts, 
and ordinary courts, and secured the independence of the judges. 
The Constitution was declared unalterable, except by a vote of two- 
thirds of both chambers, with the approval of the Sultan. 

On the 28th of December, the armistice was extended till the 
1st of March. The terms agreed upon in the preliminary confer- 
ence were rejected by the Porte as involving violations of the Con- 




THE MARQUIS OF SALISBURY. 



INSURRECTION OF 1875, AND WARS OF 1876. 



stitution just adopted, and being incompatible with tlie sovereigntj 
of the Empire. 

A new proposition was presented to Turkey, in which the cession 
of Little Zvornik to Servia, and the points in reference to the addi- 
tions to Montenegro were modified so as to meet the expressed 
views of the Porte. The plan for the reorganization of Bulgaria 
was wholly changed. The demand for a reserve of the power of 
approval of the appointment of the provincial governors was limited 
to five years of operation, and the scheme for a commission to watch 
over the introduction of the reforms was modified so as to make the 
commission a mixed one. The plenipotentiaries declared that if 
these propositions were rejected, they would leave Constantinople. 
On the 20th of January, 18 Y8, Savfet Pasha read a note in the 
conference, announcing that Turkey declined to accede to the 
propositions, and giving the reasons for its action. The conference 
was then declared closed. The special Ambassadors shortly after- 
ward withdrew from Constantinople. 

On the 25th of January, Savfet Pasha issued a circular, explain- 
ing that the Porte had rejected the proposals made at the con- 
ference, first because they were part of a programme which had 
been settled beforehand at a conference from which Turkey was 
excluded; and, second, because in making them the plenipoten- 
tiaries had entirely lost sight of one of the fundamental conditions 
of the conference — non-intervention in the affairs of the Turkish 
Empire, and had demanded conditions such as no Grovernment could 
accept which wished to preserve its independence, and that, too, 
when a Constitution had been granted, assuring to the whole Empire 
privileges which the powers demanded for certain provinces only. 

On the 31st of January, Prince Gortchakoff, Chancellor of the 
Kussian Empire, issued a circular note reciting the failure of all the 
attempts to pacify Turkey and of the conference, and inquiring 
what the powers intended to do next. 

On the 5th of February, Midhat Pasha, the Turkish Grand 
Yizier, was dismissed ; Edhem Pasha was appointed in his place, 
and a new cabinet was formed. The act was a general surprise, 
and was variously accounted for. An official circular stated that it 
was because the Yizier had failed to oppose plans against the pre- 
rogatives of the Sultan and the pubhc tranquillity which it was his 
duty to prevent. 

In March, the Russian Government invited the powers to agree to 



2o6 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



a protocol to be signed by them and Turkey, pledging tlie execu- 
tion of tbe reforms demanded and promised, failing the realization 
of which, within a reasonable time, the powers should come to an 
understanding as to what should be done. This was agreed to by 
the other powers, and the protocol was signed March 31st by the 
representatives of England, Russia, France, Germany, Austria, and 
Italy. In this paper the Porte was invited to conclude the pacifica- 
tion of the principalities " by replacing its armies on a peace footing, 
excepting the number of troops indis2)ensable for maintaining order, 
and by putting in hand, with the least possible delay, the reforms 
necessary for the tranquillity and well-being of the provinces, the con- 
dition of which was discussed at the conference;" the readiness of 
the Porte to realize an important part of the reforms was recognized ; 
a proposition was made to watch over the manner in which they 
should be carried into effect ; and the intention was reserved, if the 
condition of the Christian provinces were not improved, to consider 
what further steps would be necessary. The protocol was presented 
to the Porte for its signature April 3d, and was immediately rejected 
with decision. In a note conveying its rejection formally, the Turk- 
ish Government said it could not see how it had deserved so ill of 
justice and civilization as to see itself placed in a humiliating posi- 
tion without example in the world. The Treaty of Paris," reads 
the note, " gave an explicit sanction to the principle of non-inter- 
vention. This treaty, which binds together the powers who partici- 
pate in it, as well as Turkey, can not be abolished by a protocol 

in which Turkey has no share Turkey feels that she is 

now contending for her existence," but " strong in the justice of her 
cause, and trusting in God, she determines to ignore what has been de- 
cided without her and against her ; resolved to retain in the world the 
place which Providence has destined for her in this regard, she will not 
cease to encounter the attacks directed against her, with the general 
principles of public right and the authority of a great European act, 
which pledges the honor of the powers that signed the protocol of 
the 31st of March, a document which, in her eyes, has no legal claim 
to exact compliance." This note was presented to the Russian Gov- 
ernment on the 12th of April. On the 21:th of the same month Rus- 
sia declared war against Turkey. Before proceeding to narrate the 
action of the Russian Government, it is necessary to mention a few 
other events, which had a bearing upon the situation and attitude of 
Turkey. 



INSURRECTION OF 1875, AND WARS OF 1876. 



207 



l^egotiations for peace were begun in January between Turkey 
and Servia and Montenegro, independently of the action of the pow- 
ers. Peace was conchided with Servia on the 27th of February, on 
the basis of the maintenance of the status quo ante lellum, the grant- 
ing of an amnesty, and the evacuation of Servian territory by the 
Turkish troops within twelve days. Servia agreed to erect no more 
fortifications, to hoist the Ottoman flag by the side of that of Servia 
on the existing forts, and to prevent armed bands from crossing the 
frontier. The terms were approved by the Great Skupstchina, at a 
session called especially to consider them, on the 28th of March. The 
Montenegrins demanded a rectification of their frontier, with additions 
to their territory, the cession of the seaport of Spizza, the free navi- 
gation of the Lake of Scutari and the river Bayana, the restoration 
of the Herzegovinian refugees to their homes, and a new modus 
vivendi with Turkey. The Porte declined to accede to these de- 
mands. They were modified, and the negotiations were resumed, to 
be broken off finally on the refusal of Turkey to cede Nicsic to Mon- 
tenegro. 

The insurrectionary movements in Bosnia were renewed early in 
the spring, when bands of insurgents appeared in several quarters, 
and a number of skirmishes took place. The most prominent of the 
new leaders was Col. Despotovitch, a Servian by birth, who had 
served in the Russian Imperial Guard and the Servian army. 

The first Turkish Parliament under the new Constitution was 
opened March 19th, by the Sultan in person. The Sultan, in the 
" Speech from the Throne," said of the conference : " The disagree- 
ment between my Government and the powers rests rather in the 
form and method of application than in the substance of the ques- 
tion. All my efforts Avill be devoted toward bringing to perfection 
the progress which has already been realized in the situation of the 
Empire, and in all the branches of its administration. But I consider 
it to be one of my most important duties to remove any cause which 
may be detrimental to the dignity and independence of my Empire. 
I leave to time the task of proving the sincerity of my intentions of 
reconciliation." The reply to this address was discussed in the 
Chamber of Deputies in secret session, when, it is said, the speakers 
were unanimous in favor of rejecting absolutely all foreign interven- 
tion in the internal affairs of Turkey. 



SECOND BOOK. 



THE EASTERN WAR OF 1877-1878. 



SECOND BOOK. 



THE EASTEKN WAR OF 1877-1878. 



CHAPTEK I. 

THE RUSSIAJT DECLARATION OF WAR. 

The Eiissian War Manifesto — Prince Gortchakofi's Circular — The Turkish Kcply — The 
Army of the Pruth, its Composition and Commanders — Total Strength of the Russian 
Armies — Crossing of the Pruth— Occupation of Galatz and Braila — Convention be- 
tween Russia and Rumania — Turkish Protest — Declaration of Rumanian Independ- 
ence — Strength of the Rumanian Army — The Seat of War — The Defenses of Turkey 
— The Danube and its Portresses — The Turkish Quadrilateral — The Country beyond 
the Balkans — Strength and Condition of the Turkish Forces — Operations on the 
Danube. 

The prompt and determined rejection by the Ottoman Porte of 
tlie London protocol as being a violation of the independence of 
Turkey, left little, if any, hope for the preservation of peace. 
Though it was not immediately followed by a declaration of war on 
the part of Knssia, warlike movements began at once. The Russian 
army in Bessarabia rapidly advanced toward the Pruth, and the 
Turks were hastening the erection of works in front of Kalaf at, with 
a view, it was thought, to cross to the Rumanian side. When, on 
April 20th, the Emperor of Russia left for Kishenev, it was generally 
understood that his arrival at the headquarters of the Russian army 
would be immediately followed by a declaration of war. Having 
reached Kishenev, the Czar, on April 23d, reviewed his troops on the 
banks of the Pruth, and on the following day he issued the anxiously 
awaited manifesto to his army, which informed the world that peace 
was at last broken, and that the two great countries of Eastern 
Europe were in a state of wa/. Few public documents of the 

(211) 



212 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



iiineteentii century liave been read witli a more intense interest, and 
liowever mnch views differed on the justice of the canse for which 
the Emperor pleaded, it was felt on all sides that this manifesto 
would rank among the most notable addresses issued since the days 
of the French Revolution. The manifesto is as follows : 

" Oar faithful and beloved subjects know the strong interest we 
have constantly felt in the destinies of the oppressed Christian popu- 
lation of Turkey. Om* desire to amehorate and assure their lot has 
been shared by the whole Russian nation, which now shows itself 
ready to bear fresh sacrifices to alleviate the position of the Chris- 
tians in the Balkan peninsula. 

" The blood and property of our faithful subjects have always 
been dear to us, and our whole reign attests our constant solici- 
tude to preserve to Russia the benefits of peace. This sohcitade 
never failed to actuate us during the dej^lorable events which oc- 
curred in Herzegovina, Bosnia and Bulgaria. Our object before all 
was to effect amelioration in the position of the Christians in the 
East by means of pacific negotiations ; and in concert with the great 
European Powers, our allies and friends, for two years we have made 
incessant efforts to induce the Porte to effect such reforms as would 
protect the Christians in* Bosnia, Herzegovina and Bulgaria from 
the arbitrary measures of local authorities. The accomplishment of 
these reforms was absolutely stipulated by anterior engagements con- 
tracted by the Porte toward the whole of Em-ope. 

" Our efforts, supported by diplomatic representations made in 
common by the other Governments, have not, however, attained 
their object. The Porte has remained unshaken in its formal refusal 
of any effective guarantee for the security of its Christian subjects, 
and has rejected the conclusions of the Constantinople conference. 
Wishing to essay every possible means of conciliation in order to 
persuade the Porte, we proposed to the other Cabinets to draw up a 
special protocol, comprising the most essential conditions of the Con- 
stantinople conference, and to invite the Turkish Government to ad- 
here to this international act, which states the extreme limits of our 
peaceful demands. But our expectation was not fulfilled. The 
Porte did not defer to this unanimous wish of Christian Europe, 
and did not adhere to the conclusions of the protocol. 

Having exhausted pacific efforts, we are compelled by the 
haughty obstinacy of the Porte to \ "oceed to more decisive acts, feel- 



THE RUSSIAN DECLARATION OF WAR. 



213 



ing that our equity and our own dignity enjoin it. By lier refusal, 
Turkey places us under the necessity of having recourse to arms. 

" Profoundly convinced of the justice of our cause, and humbly 
committing ourselves to the grace and the help of the Most High, we 
make known to our faithful subjects that the moment foreseen 
when w^e pronounced words to wdiich all Russia responded with com- 
plete unanimity has now arrived. We expressed the intention to 
act independently when we deemed it necessary, and when Russia's 
honor should demand it. In now invoking: the blessing of God upon 
our valiant armies, we give them the order to cross the Turkish 
frontier. 

" Alexander." 

On the same day, Prince Gortchakoff addi^essed a circular to the 
Russian Ambaesadors at Foreign Coui*ts, in which he undertook to 
•justify the action of Russia as a legitimate and necessary consequence 
of the Porte's refusal to accept the London protocol. The Russian 
Chancellor has long been admired as a writer of diplomatic notes, 
many of which are regarded as mastei-pieces of this kind of literature, 
and it was therefore to be expected that the circular in which he was 
to explain the causes of what every one thought would turn out one 
of the most memorable wars in the world's history, would be worthy 
of his reputation. The consummate ability of this document w^as 
indeed admitted on all sides, even by those who did not believe in 
the soundness of its reasoning. Like the Emperor's manifesto, it is 
an indispensable part of any history of this war, and w^e therefore 
give it here entire. It is as follows : 

Since the beginning of the Eastern crisis the Imperial Cabinet 
has exhausted all the means in its power in order to bring about, by 
the co-operation of the Great Powers of Europe, a lasting peace with 
Turkey. All the proposals successively made to the Porte as a re- 
sult of the understanding arrived at between the Cabinets of Europe, 
have been met by it with obstinate resistance. The protocol signed 
in London on the 19th (31st) of March in this year has been the last 
expression of the united wishes of Europe. The Imperial Cabinet 
had suggested it as a last effort of conciliation. It had made known 
by a declaration bearing the same date, and accompanying the pro- 
tocol, the conditions which, if loyally and sincerely accepted, and 
executed by the Ottoman Government, might bring about the re-es- 



214 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



tablisliment and consolidation of peace. The Porte has just answered 
this declaration bj a new refusal. This contingency had not been 
foreseen in the protocol of London. In formulating the wishes and 
decisions of Europe, the protocol had confined itself to a stipulation 
that in case the Great Powers should be deceived in their hope of 
seeing the Porte energetically adopt the measui-es destined to im- 
prove the condition of the Christian populations — measures unani- 
mously recognized as indispensable to the tranquillity of Europe — 
they reserved to themselves the right of consulting together as to the 
means most suitable for insuring the well-being of these populations 
and the interests of general peace. 

" Thus the Cabinets had taken thought of the contingency that 
the Porte should not fulfill the promises which it had made, but not 
that the Porte should reject the demands of Europe. At the same 
time the declaration made by Lord Derby, after the signing of the 
protocol, had established the fact that as the British Government had 
only consented to sign the protocol with a view to the interests of 
the general peace, it was to be understood at the outset that, in case 
this object should not be attained — especially the reciprocal disarma- 
ment and peace between Turkey and Pussia — the protocol should be 
considered as null and void. The refusal of the Porte, and the motives 
on which this refusal is founded, leave no ground for hoping that 
she will now defer to the wishes and advice of Europe, and afford no 
guarantee for the adoption of reforms suggested for the unprove- 
ment of the condition of the Christian subjects of the Porte. Peace 
with Montenegro is thus rendered impossible, and it is impossible, 
also, to complete the conditions which would bring about disarma- 
ment and pacification. Li these circumstances, all prospect of suc- 
cessful attempts at conciliation is at an end. There remains no other 
alternative than either to prolong a state of things which the powers 
have declared incompatible with their interests, and with those of 
Europe in general, or to try and obtain by force what the unanimous 
attempts of the Cabinets have failed to obtain from the Porte by 
persuasion. Our august master has resolved himself to undertake 
the work, which His Majesty had invited the Great Powers to un- 
dertake in common with him. His Majesty has therefore ordered 
his armies to cross the frontier of Turkey. In taking upon himself 
this task, our august master fulfills a duty which is imposed upon him 
by the interests of Russia, whose peaceful development is seriously 
impeded by the permanent disorder of the East. His Imperial 



THE RUSSIAN DECLARATION OF WAR, 



215 



Majesty is persuaded tliat in taking this step lie is consulting at tlie 
same tinrie the views and the interests of Europe." 

Prince Gortchakoff also wrote to Teviik Bej, the Turkish Am- 
bassador at St. Petersburg, notifying him of the assumption of hos- 
tilities by Pussia : 

" The earnest negotiations between the Imperial Goyernnieut and 
the Porte for a desirable pacifictition of the East not having led to 
the desired accord, His Majesty, mj august master, sees himseK 
compelled, to his regret, to have recourse to force of arms. Be, 
therefore, so kind as to inform jour Government that from to-day 
Pussia considers herself in a state of war with the Porte.'' 

The note also stated that Tui'kish subjects residing in Pussia had 
the option of leaving the country or remaining, and that in the latter 
case they would enjoy the full protection of the laws. The Ambas- 
sador having been offered passports for himself and the members of 
his embassy,- took leave of the Pussian Government in a courteous 
note, and the rupture of diplomatic relations between the two 
countries was completed. The Turkish Government immediately 
published a reply to the Pussian declaration of war. After review- 
ing the part played by Pussia during the insmTection of 18T5, and 
the war of 1876, the Porte appealed in this document to the media- 
tion of the powers on the strength of the eighth article of the Treaty 
of Paris in the following terms : 

''The Sublime Porte falls back on Article 8 of the Treaty of 
Paris, which is in these terms : ' Should there arise between the 
Sublime Porte and one or more of the other Signatary Powers any 
misunderstanding threatening the maintenance of their relations, the 
Sublime Porte and each of the powers, before havmg recourse to 
the employment of force, will give the other contracting parties an 
opportunity of preventing this extremity by their mediatory action.' 
Although it is not the Ottoman Government which threatens to 
take the initiative of aggression, and although, consequently, it was 
by rights the part of the Pussian Government to appeal to these 
stipulations of the Treaty of Paris, this Imperial Government, in 
order to avoid all misunderstanding, apphes to the Signataiy Powers 
of that treaty for them to use their good offices in the grave cir- 
cumstances in which it is placed, by applying the Article before 
mentioned, and thus putting an end to the dangerous tension atfect- 



2l6 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



ing the relations of tlie two States bj means of such mediatory 
action in confonnity Vvdth right and treaty. Apart from all treaty 
stipnlation, the action of the powers would even be justified on the 
ground on which, according to the declaration of her Charge fT Af- 
faires at Constantinople, Russia desires to found her present military 
action, in alleging the refusal of the Porte to agree to the proposals 
made to it by all the powers, and to the document signed by them, 
and by pointing out that her conduct thus conforms as well with 
the provisions of Article 8 of the Treaty of Paris as with the motives 
for the rupture assigned by Eussia. The Sublime Porte expresses 
the conviction that the friendly powers, true to the feeling of benevo- 
lent interest which they have never ceased to manifest to the Otto- 
man Empire, will seize this opportunity to arrest the breaking out 
of a great war, thus sparing these countries the painful extremities 
wdth which they are threatened, and Em-ope herself the trouble and 
danger resulting from a conflict between two States — a conflict of 
which the Sublime Porte can justly repudiate the entire responsi- 
bility." 

Although the outbreak of a new Eastern war had for years been 
regarded as probable, and during the last two weeks as unavoidable 
and immediate, a profound impression was produced by the ofiicial 
declaration. It was fully and generally understood that momentous 
results might follow its issue. Attention was called by many lead- 
ing newspapers of Europe, to the remarkable silence of the Imperial 
manifesto as to the suspected intentions of Pussia to annex, if vic- 
torious, considerable portions of Turkish territory. But few persons 
were found in the countries of Christendom who expressed a T^arm 
and unreserved sj^mpathy with the Turks. The bitterest enemies 
of Pussia did not deny that the Turkish Government had contracted 
great guilt by the failure to improve the wretched condition of its 
Christian subjects, and that the stubborn refusal of the Porte to lis- 
ten to the advice of the Great Powers of Europe was foolhardy and 
reckless. The enthusiastic sympathy which the Mohammedan world 
expressed wdth the hazardous step of its foremost representative was, 
of course, of no practical avail, and was apt to hurt the Turks more 
than to benefit them, because it might be expected to produce a 
strong reaction in the Christian countries. Pussia met with the 
wildest applause from all the Slavic nations except the Poles, and if 
any further proof had been needed that the much-talked-of Pan-Slavic 



THE RUSSIAN DECLARATION OF WAR. 



217 



agitations liad not been altogether devoid of consecpeiices, it was 
now furnished by the comment of the Slavic press on the Eastern 
war. In the Christian countries outside of the Slavic vv'orld. public 
opinion was greatly divided. Strong anti-Turkish sentiments were 
expressed by those who were deeply convinced of the prime impor- 
tance of restoring the ascendency of the Christian religion in the 
East, as the first condition of its political and social regeneration ; 
by those who believed in a special mission of the Eastern Church, 
for aiding in the reunion of the Christian Church ; by those 
who had been waiting upon the fall of the Ottoman Empire 
as a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy ; by many liberals, especially in 
England, who believed, with Mr. Gladstone, that the Turks were 
irremediably cruel and oppressive, and that England ought not to 
hold out to them any hope of material or moral aid ; by radicals, like 
Garibaldi, who demanded the expulsion of the Tm^ks to make room 
for the introduction of self-government. Strong anti-Russian senti- 
ments, on the other hand, were uttered by those who, in the rapid 
ao^OTandizement of Russia, saw a dano-er for its more hi2:hlv cultiva- 
ted neighbors, and for all Europe. All parties, however, agreed in 
picturing in the most sombre colors the horrors which the world 
must be prepared to ^vitness in the coming war. 

The obstinate refusal by the Porte of all the demands of the Con- 
stantinople conference and the London protocol had been partly 
inspired by the firm belief of the Turkish statesmen, that if war 
was once declared between Russia and Turkey, England would be 
forced by her own interest to take part in it on the side of Turkey. 
This hope Avas not fulfilled. In the answer to the Russian note 
which was on July 1st addressed to Lord Loftus, the British Ambas- 
sador in St. Petersburg, Earl Derby, the British Secretary of State 
for Foreign Affairs, strongly disapproved the action of Russia, and 
especially entered a solemn protest against the assumption that it 
was acting with the concurrence of Europe, and in the interest of 
other powers, but he confined himself to this declaration and abstained 
from any intimation of an active participation in the war, at pres- 
ent or in future. In the violent debates which the declaration 
of war called forth in the English Parliament, the ministers qualified 
their policy as one of neutrality, and even deemed it expedient to 
defend themselves from the imxputation of being indifcerent to the 
ill-treatment of the Christians in Turkey. The other Governments 



2l8 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



of Europe, as Trell as that of tlie United States, promptly issued offi- 
cial declarations of neutrality. 

In Hussia, the events of 1875 and 1876 had produced o^reat ex- 
citement. This was aided and increased by Pan-Slavic agents 
thi'oughout the Empire. It was well-known that Pan-Slavic com- 
mittees had collected moneys and provisions in Russia for the Ser- 
vian cause, while large numbers of Russians had entered the service 
under General TchernayefE. In the middle of ]S"ovember, 1876, the 
Czar had ordered the mobilization of the greater part of the Euro- 
pean army, as well as of the enth-e army of the Caucasus, and, con- 
sequently, two large armies were concentrated by Russia on its Tm-k- 
ish borders. 

The army of the South, or of the Pnith, was placed under the 
command of the Grand Duke Nicholas, a brother of the Emperor, 
with its headquarters at Kishenev, and was concentrated on both 
banks of the Lower Dniester, and between this river and the Pruth. 
General Xepokoitchitzky was appointed chief of the staff, wliieh was 
veiy numerous, and was increased by. the addition of a fully-equip- 
ped bureau for the administration of the Slavic provinces south of 
the Danube, which were to be captm'ed. The powers, military and 
poh'tical, of the Commander-in-chief were very great, and in order 
to make him as much as possible independent of interference from 
St. Petersburg, he was authorized to decide for hhnself as to the 
strategical movements to be executed ; to appoint governors for the 
provinces which should be occupied ; to make promotions in the 
army up to the grade of lieutenant-general, and to gi'ant certain 
decorations. This army was composed of four corps: — the eighth, 
under Lieutenant-General Radetzky : the ninth, under Lieutenant- 
General Baron Kiiidener ; the eleventh, under Lieutenant-General 
Prince Shachovsky ; and the twelfth, under Lieutenant-General Yan- 
novsky, and included eight divisions of infantry, of two brigades, 
or four regiments each ; four divisions of cavalry, each consisting 
of f om- regiments and a brigade of mounted artiUeiy ; and eight 
brigades of field artillery. 

Besides this force, a second army was formed for the defense of 
the coasts of the Black Sea, and was placed under the special com- 
mand of Lieutenant-General Semeka, with its headquarters at 
Odessa. It was composed of two corps: — the seventh, under Lieu- 
tenant-General Ganyetzky II., and the tenth coi-ps under Lieutenant- 




GRAND DUKE NICHOLAS. 



EVENING PRAYER IN A CANTONMENT OF RUSSIAN SOLDIERS 
AT KISHINEV. 



THE RUSSIAN DECLARATION OF WAR. 



221 



G-eneral Prince Yoronsoff. The strength of tlie two armies in men, 
horses, and guns, was : 





Men. 


Horses. 


Guns. 


Army of operation (four corps), . 


. 144,000 


33,800 


432 




, 72,000 


16,400 


216 




216,000 


49,200 


648 



The following additional troops were also available : the. third and 
fourth brigades of chasseurs, under Major-General Dobrovalsky, and 
Major-General Zviazinsky, respectively ; the Bulgarian militia, Ma- 
jor-General Stolyetoff, composed of Bulgarian refugees in Eumania ; 
the combined Cossack division, Lieiitenant-General Skobeleif ; nine 
Cossack regiments of the second class ; the Don-Cossack batteries, 
ISTo. 8-11, and Ko,. 15 ; two mountain batteries of 8 guns each ; the 
third brigade of sappers; the third and fourth battalions of pon- 
tooners; a park of siege artillery, consisting of 4:00 guns; two 
companies of marines with 24 torpedo-boats in parts all ready to be 
put together; two squadrons of field gendarmes; fourteen trans- 
port divisions of 350 wagons each ; a reserve depot of 12,000 hoi'^es ; 
and the escort of the Grand Duke commanding, consisting of the 
first sotnie of Guard Cossacks of Terek ; the first sotnie of Guard 
Cossacks of Kuban, and two companies of Plastuni (Kuban Gos- 
sans on foot). 

Forty-eight hours before the declaration of war, small Russian de- 
tachments had crossed the Pruth and occupied several important 
positions in Rumania, including the railroad station at Jassy, and 
the railroad bridge over the Sereth at Barboschi. It was all the 
more important to secure this bridge and protect it by batteries, as 
it was to be supposed that the enemy would make every effort to 
destroy it. Its importance lay in the fact that it was the sole means 
of communication by railroad, between the two sides of the river, 
over which the greater part of the army of operation had to be 
brought in order to assume the offensive along the whole line of the 
Danube. The Turks, however, made no attempt to destroy the 
railroads of Rumania, not even the Barboschi bridge. It w^as sup- 
posed that their policy on this point was governed by a desire to 
give to Rumania no pretext for forming an alliance with Russia. 

Immediately upon the declaration of war the Russian troops be- 
gan to cross the Pruth in two wings or columns. The left wing was 
composed of the eleventh and seventh corps. The 11th corps had 
been stationed shortly before the outbreak of the war at Kubai, in 

12 



222 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



the extreme sontli-westerR corner of Bessarabia. Beginning its 
marcli on April 24:tli it reached Galatz and Braila on May 4th. The 
advanced guard of these corps had been in these towns as early as 
April 25th. Heni was also occupied. The Yth corps marched from 
Tatar Bunar on Kilia and Ismail, the last troops reaching these 
places on May 5th. The right wing, which was composed of the 8th, 
9th, and 12th corps, and to which the headquarters of the Grand 
Duke ITicholas had been attached, marched on the line Kishenev, 
Byrlat, Tekutch, Buseo, Bucharest. The headquarters were located 
on May 6th at Jassy, and on May 15th at FJoyeshti. 

Rumania had remained neutral during the wars of 18Y5 and 18Y6, 
and had attracted but little attention from the outside world. But as 
the probability of a Russo-Turkish war increased, and Russia began to 
mass her forces on the Rumanian border, its position became a very 
doubtful one, lying as it did directly between the two belligerent pow- 
ers. The progress of events forced it to take sides with one party or 
the other, and on April 16, 18Y7, Prince Charles concluded a conven- 
tion with Russia, in which he assured to the Russians a free passage, 
and the treatment due a friendly army. The Czar, on the other hand, 
bound himself to respect the rights of Rumania. According to an 
additional convention, the Russians were allowed to use Rumanian 
roads, railways, rivers, and telegraphs. The resources of the coun- 
try were placed at their disposal for the supply of the army. The 
Rumanian authorities were to assist in erecting camps and forward- 
ing baggage. Russian military trains and telegrams were to have 
the precedence of ordinary traffic. The Russians were empowered 
to complete unfinished railroads, and the necessary ground for this 
purpose was to be ceded to them. The chief of the Russian Mili- 
tary Traffic Department was empowered, subject to the approval of 
the Rumanian Minister of Works, to dismiss Rumanian railway offi- 
cials. The Russians were allowed to establish military stations and 
hospitals anywhere except in Bucharest. Rumania would, if re- 
quired, provide material for the construction of boats, ships, and 
bridges. Articles intended for the Russian army would be admitted 
into Rumania, duty free. The Rumanian authorities would assist in 
capturing Russian deserters. All the expenses incurred through the 
passage of the Russians were to be paid in cash within two months. 
An explanatory report annexed to the convention said Russia was 
obliged to intervene in Turkey because Mussulman fanaticism and 
the weakness of the Turkish Government allowed no hope of reform, 



THE RUSSIAN DECLARATION OF WAR. 



223 



and as Eussia desired to respect the inviolability of Enrnania, the 
present convention was concluded. 

When the existence of this convention became known, in the latter 
part of April, the Turkish Government informed the Rumanian 
agent at Constantinople, that in view of the above convention, and 
the entrance of Russian troops into Rumanian territory, the Forte 
no longer regarded the Prince and the Rumanian authorities as free 
agents, but considered that they were in the power of the enemy, 
and could therefore hold no more official communication with them. 
Rumanian subjects in Turkey were at the same time placed under 
the direct jurisdiction of the Turkish authorities. In consequence 
of this action the Rumanian agent retired from Constantinople. The 
Porte also addressed a note respecting the attitude of Rumania to 
the powers, in which it accused Prince Charles of having " betrayed 
the interests of his country, and the confidence of his suzerain, be- 
sides disappointing the hopes cherished by Europe when it estab- 
lished the united principalities." 

Such faithlessness could not, according to the note, be too strongly 
condemned. On May 21st an order of the day was unanimously 
adopted in both the Rumanian Chambers, declaring the independ- 
ence of the principality, and recognizing the existence of a state of 
war between Rumania and Turkey. Prime Minister Cogalniceano 
addressed a note to the powers on the 3d of June, notifying them of 
the new attitude of the country. The Turkish Government, in a 
note of June 5, protested against the Rumanian declaration of inde- 
pendence, and asserted that " it intended to preserve its rights with- 
out regard to the actions or the words of the rebellious Government 
of Moldavia-Wallachia, and it reserved for itself the right to use such 
measures against the principalities as seemed proper in its estimation." 
The strength of the Rumanian army was variously estimated. The 
most probable estimate was that which placed it at 38,000 infantry, 
8,200 cavalry, and 120 field guns. On May 10th Prince Charles pub- 
lished a decree, assuming the chief command of his troops, and ap- 
pointing as his chief of staff. General Slaniceano ; as commander of 
the first corps, Gen. Lupu ; and of the second corps, Gen. Radovici. 

Early in May three more corps were added to the Russian army 
of operation, viz.: the fourth corps, from Minsk, under the command 
of Lieutenant- General Zotoff ; the thirteenth corps, from Shitomir, 
under Lieutenant-General Ilahn; and the fourteenth corps, from 
Kiev, under Lieutenant-General Zimmerman. Besides these troops, 



224 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



there were a large number of separate regiments of Cossacks, pio- 
neers, engineers, and others ; and the marine equipage included twen- 
ty-four small screw-steamers, which were taken along in parts and 
put together on the Danube. Taken all in all, the army of the 
Danube was composed as follows : 



Men. Cannon, 

16 Infantry Divisions 254,784 768 

2 Brigades of Sharpshooters ... 7,633 

9i Cavalry Divisions 38,711 114 

7 Separate Eegiments of Don Cossacks 4,900 

6 Separate Batteries of Don Cossacks ? 36 



Total 305,027 918 



The engineers, the marine detachments, the siege artillery, and 
yarious other detachments were not included in these numbers. 
Counting them at 20,000 men, we would have a total of 325,000 
men. Allowing Y5,000 men for the sick and wounded, there would 
still remain 250,000 men, with 170,000 rifles, 23,000 sabres, and 918 
cannon. This army was increased by the Eumanian and Bulgarian 
contingents to 200,000 rifles, 27,000 sabres, and 1,038 field-guns. 

The valley of the Danube, which had again become the seat of 
war between Russia and Turkey, has been the scene of many bat- 
tles. The Emperor Trajan for several years carried on war against 
the Dacians, who lived between the Theiss, the Pruth, and the 
Danube, occupying the territory of the present Rumania and 
Transylvania. In the year 103 he conquered the Dacians com- 
pletely, and made their country a Roman province. He did not, 
however, take possession of what is now called the Dobrudja, 
recognizing its poverty and sterility as well as its uselessness in a 
strategical point of view. But in order to protect the rich and 
fertile country south of the Danube against invasions, he erected a 
triple wall of earth at the point where the solid ground between 
the Danube and the Black Sea was narrowest. Since that time the 
Danube has been the scene of many wars between the different 
nations living upon it. In the war of 1854 Trajan's wall played a 
very important part. The Turks, in the beginning of the war, 
abandoned the Dobrudja, but made a halt at the wall, where they 
inflicted two severe defeats on the Russians on April 10th at Kostelli, 
..and on April 22d at Tchernavoda. 

The river Danube forms the northern boundary of Turkey proj)er 
from the Iron Gate, in the Carpathian Mountains, to its mouths at 
the Black Sea, a distance of 584 miles measured along the navigable 



THE RUSSIAN DECLARATION OF WAR. 225 

cliannel. The river, at the outbreak of the war, presented a for- 
midable defense for Turkey. General McClellan, in the North 
American Bemew^ speaking of it, says : " Below the Iron Gate the 
Danube, except when divided by islands into several arms, is no- 
where less than nine hundred paces in width, often more than 
double that. In places it is from seventy to eighty feet deep, often 
shallower, but always a deep river, nowhere fordable. There is 
only one place, at Tultcha, where a sandbar reduces its depth so 
much as to render a pile bridge practicable; at all other points 
bridges must be supported upon boats. The current averages about 
two and one-half miles per hour. As a rule the right, or Turkish 
bank commands the left bank, which is often marshy to the water's 
edge. The points suitable for crossing large bodies of troops are 
few, and are generally covered by fortifications on the Turkish 
bank." 

Turkey, besides completely commanding the Black Sea w^ith her 
navy, had a fleet of seventeen gun-boats on the Danube. The 
smaller boats were lightly armored, so as to resist the shot from 
field cannon, but the larger vessels were strongly plated to resist 
the heavy fortification guns which the Russians transported by their 
long land route, the only one open to them. Besides this fleet, the 
Turks had three monitors with movable turrets. Along the Turk- 
ish shore there was a line of strong fortresses, which in 1828 and 
1853 had resisted the attacks of the Russians, and between them 
was a chain of smaller forts, capable of holding back, for a short 
time, any force which the enemy could throw across the river. 

The fortresses on this line were indicated as follows, commencing 
at the west ; Ada-Kale, on a rocky island of about eight hundred 
acres, situated in the middle of the river, where the channel is 
bounded on each side by nearly perpendicular rocks two thousand 
feet high, and utterly inaccessible to an enemy with even the 
smallest cannon. This fortress is above the cataract of the Iron 
Gate, and is so placed as to be able to prevent the passage of any 
gun-boat down the river, or of any land force along the only road — 
the " Trajan Way " — which is an admirably built modern Macadam 
road, over the same ground upon which the Roman Emperor built 
a military road in a.d. Y8. The next fortress is Widin, one hun- 
dred miles below Ada-Kale, on the right bank, opposite Kalafat, a 
Rumanian fortress. 

"Widin, which is one of the most important posts on the river, is 



226 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



built on hills, and has a population of about thirty thousand. 
It was very strongly fortified with works containing from two hun- 
dred to three hundred cannon. Kalafat, immediately opposite, was 
also strongly fortified, as were besides two high hills beyond the 
town. The Turks certainly missed a grand opportunity in not 
occupying Kalafat and the hills surronnding it, and using it as a 
bridge-head. This could have been done the more easily as the 
Rumanian troops had retired from it on the 26th of April, and 
from that date np to May 4th, when they again entered it, it remained 
entu-ely unprotected. The fortresses next in order are Lom, Ra- 
hova, Nicopolis, and Sistova, dividing about equally the distance 
between Widin and Rustchuk. Rustchuk is, like Widin, one of 
the strongest points on the river, and formed, with Silistria, Yarna, 
and Shnmla, what was known as the celebrated Tm-kish quad- 
rilateral. It has been the scene of numerous sieges, and has been 
destroyed and rebuilt several times. The town of Giurgevo, op- 
posite to it, was built in the early part of the present century, as a 
bridge-head for Rustchuk. A correspondent of the London News, 
w\io passed down the river on April 25th, wrote, that for a distance 
of three miles along the margin of the stream — from far above the 
town to the bluff far below it — the bank was thickly studded with 
earthwork batteries, some looking due across the river, some facing 
up-stream, others fronting do^vn-stream, so that the cannon mounted 
behind the massive parapets could sweep with front and flanking 
fire the whole broad bosom of the Danube so thoroughly that a row- 
boat could not run the gauntlet of their iron hail-stoi'm. But the 
brink of the river was not the only locality that was thus protected. 
Behind the low bluff along the bank an undulating plateau, about 
two miles broad, extended backward to a continuous rising ground 
having a series of knolls upon its surface. On each of these knolls 
was an intrenched work. So far as the correspondent could see 
with his glass from the river, the ridge above was "a great in- 
trenched camp, with an elaborate earthwork redoubt on each flank, 
and another in the center." The fortifications thus consisted of 
three lines, aU of which "are extremely formidable." The next 
fort is Turtukai, haK way between Rustchuk and Silistria. 

Silistria, the second fortress of the quadrilateral, is one of the 
strongest fortified towns in the East. It is a very ancient city, and 
in the vicinity are the remains of fortifications which were erected dm*- 
ing the Byzantine Empire. In 971 the Emperor routed the Russians 



THE RUSSIAN DECLARATION OE WAR. 



227 



under Sviatoslav. In it was again besieged by tlie Eussians, 

and still again in 1Y79, when tliey suffered severe losses. In 1810 it 
capitulated — the first and only time but one in history. In 1828 
another siege was laid and continued several months, the Russians 
at last retiring. In 1829, however, it was reduced, and held as a 
pledge for the payment of an indemnity by the Porte. When new 
troubles with Russia were apparent in 1849-'50, the fortifications 
were greatly strengthened by the addition of twelve detached forts, 
of which, the one on the hill commanding the town, is said to be one 
of the best military works of the time. In April, 1854, it was invested 
by an army of 50,000 Russians, which was afterward increased to 
'rO,000, and a siege begun which continued until near the 1st of 
July. A bombardment was kept up for three weeks, midnight at- 
tacks were made, 30,000 men attempted to gain the town, but all 
without success. The Russians retired and retreated across the river. 
It is recorded that 50,000 shot and shell were thrown upon the town, 
while the Russians lost 12,000 men and had 20,000 laid up in hos- 
pitals. Below Silistria are Tchernavoda, Hirsova, Matchin, Isaktcha, 
and Tultcha. On the Rumanian side are Braila, Galatz, Reni, and 
Ismail. Of these forts, Braila, Matehin, and Tultcha are especially 
important, as they command the Dobrudja. Another place of im- 
portance to the Dobrudja is the smaU port of Ivustendji on the Black 
Sea. 

The second line of the Turkish defense was the Balkan range of 
mountains, which rises to a height varying from 5,000 feet in the west 
to 2,000 feet in the eastern extremity. The distance from the Danube 
to the top of the Balkans is about fifty or sixty miles, across a rough 
and broken country. The declivities of the mountains themselves 
are covered with forests. The climate is very cold and bleak. The 
best pass through the mountains is from Tirnova to Slivno. Besides 
the few passes known to and defended by the Turks, there are quite 
a number of secret passes known to the Bulgarians only. The most 
important fortresses at the northern base of the Balkans are Shumla 
and Yarna, the former considered one of the strongest points in Tur- 
key, at which a number of roads converge. Yarna is a port on the- 
Black Sea, also strongly fortified, and connected by raiboad with, 
Rustchuk. Beyond the Balkan range the country slopes gradually 
down to the Sea of Marmora. A railroad connects Adrianople with. 
Constantinople, a distance of seventy miles. The land approaches to- 
Constantinople are protected by a range of steep hills, extending from 



228 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Kara Bournii on the Black Sea, to Silivri on the Sea of Marmora. 
Here it was that Attila was stopped and hurled back in his victori- 
ous career. 

Yery little was known of the strength and the disposition of the 
Turkish forces at the beginning of the war, as nothing like an ordre 
de hataille exists in the Turkish army. According to all reports, 
however, the army of the Danube, inclusive of the garrisons, and ex- 
clusive of the troops stationed at Nissa, did not exceed 200,000 men. 
From this number the troops assigned to garrisons should be deducted : 
for Widin 16,000 men, for Rustchuk and Silistria each 12,000 men, 
for Yarna 15,000 men, for Shumla 20,000 men, and for the other 
smaller fortresses 30,000 men, making together 104,000, which would 
leave for the army of operation hardly more than 90,000 or 100,000 
men. Included in this number were 20,000 irregular troops. In 
May, the Sultan ordered a draft of 200,000 men, in which, for the 
first time, the Christians and the inhabitants of Constantinople were 
to be included. Large concentrations of troops had taken place only 
around Widin, Rustchuk, and Shumla, while a corps of 20,000 men 
was said to have been stationed in the Dobrudja. At the outbreak 
of the war considerable movements of troops took place fromWidin 
and the Dobrudja, toward the center, in the direction of Rustchuk and 
Silistria, while at the same time the reserves, which had been sta- 
tioned at Adrianople and Sophia, as well as a part of those at Con- 
stantinople, were moved across the Balkans. After these move- 
ments of troops had been completed the strength of the forces sta- 
tioned at Shumla and forward of it, on the Hne of Rustchuk, Silistria, 
and Sistova, was estimated at about 128 battalions, 600 men each, 
^0 squadrons and 116 field-guns, inclusive of the garrisons of the 
fortresses of the Danube. The Dobrudja corps, inclusive of the gar- 
rison of Yarna, was estimated at the highest at 39 battalions, 8 squad- 
rons, and 42 guns, while the troops concentrated around Widin were 
estimated at 60 battaHons, 16 squadrons, and 150 guns, making in all 
227 battalions, 44 squadrons, and 338 field-guns. The Preussische 
Militdr Wochenblatt (Military Weekly), in its issue of May 23d, gave 
the same numbers, estimating the strength of battalions as varying be- 
tween 300 and 1,000 men, and that of squadrons at 150. It summed 
up the entire force, inclusive of garrisons, at 159,000 infantry, 6,600 
cavalry, and 338 guns. To this must be added about 20,000 Circas- 
sians and an unknown number of irregulars. The regular infantry 
were all armed with breech-loaders, and the artillery consisted of 



THE RUSSIAN DECLARATION OF WAR. 



231 



Krnpp cannon, the most of wliich were said to have been paid for 
by Abdul Hamid from his private purse. The commander of the 
entire Turkish forces in Europe was Abdul Kerim Pasha, and the 
chief of his general staff, the Ferik Aziz Pasha. The commander of 
the army of the Danube was the Mnshir Achmet Eyub Pasha ; in 
the Dobrudja, Ali Pasha ; in Yarn a, Blum Pasha ; in Rustchuk, 
Tahir Pasha ; in Silistria, the Ferik Selami ; and in Widin, the 
Mushir Osman Pasha. 

Besides the above, the Russian In/vaUde and the Preussiohe Mili- 
tar Wochenblatt estimated that the following troops were in Euro- 
pean Turkey in the middle of May: 6 battalions, 4 squadrons, 12 
guns around Isissa, as a corps of observation against the mobilized 
Servian army ; Mushir Zamik Pasha with 36 battalions, 20 squadrons, 
and 42 guns, as a general reserve in Constantinople, of which, how- 
ever, a considerable number were sent to the coast of Caucasia ; 
Mushir Suleiman Pasha with 3Y battalions and 54 field and moun- 
tain cannon in Herzegovina, with his headquarters in Trebigne ; 
Yeli Pasha with 26 battalions, 1 squadron, and 36 guns, together, 
18,000 men, in Bosnia, with his headquarters at Serayevo ; Ali Saib 
with 25 battalions and 42 field and mountain guns, 18,000 men, in 
Albania against Montenegro and the Miridites, with his headquarters 
at Scutari ; Achmet Pasha with 25 battalions, 4 squadrons, 30 guns, 
on the boundary of Greece ; Mehemet Ali with 14 battalions, 2 
squadrons, and 1 8 guns, in Pascia, between the southem boundary 
of Servia and the eastern boundary of Montenegro ; 16 battalions 
and 18 guns on the islands of the ^gean Sea, principally in Crete, 
where the Mushir Pauf was in command. The army in Europe then 
numbered in all about 412 very unequal battalions and 75 squadrons, 
making together 290,000 men and 12,000 horses, and 590 field and 
mountain guns, with a few field and mountain batteries. Of the 
irregular troops, only 12,000 Arnauts in Pascia and Albania, and 
20,000 Circassians with the army of the Danube, could be counted 
on as reliable. 

As soon as the Russians had secured the shores of the Danube 
from Xilia to Braila, they began to erect shore batteries and earth- 
works along the whole line, those at Barboschi, Braila, and Galatz 
being armed with heavy guns brought for this purpose from Kish 
enev. At the same time torpedoes were placed by the Russians 
opposite Rem, in order completely to blockade the passage of the 
stream at this bend. On May 3d, two monitors, stationed at Matchin, 



232 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



began to bombard tlie Russian positions at Braila. The firing contin- 
ued on the 6th and 6th, and was answered by the Russians at fi.rst 
with their field artillery, and as their heavy siege guns began to 
arrive, with them also. The Turks afterward also bombarded 
Galatz, but with little effect. On May 11th a Russian battery 
above Braila had the good fortune to blow up the Lufti Djelil,'' a 
Turkish monitor, which had two tm-rets, and was one of the largest 
on the river. It Avas destroyed by a shell from a Russian mortar 
going down the funnel into the engine-room, exploding and com- 
municating the destruction to the powder magazine. The loss of 
the Turks was 150 men, the entire crew, and 5 guns. 

Artillery duels took place also at various other points, particularly 
between Reni and Isaktcha, without, however, doing any serious 
damage to either side. 

The Turks began to bombard several Rumanian towns from their 
positions opposite. Thus, on May 8th, Kalafat was bombarded from 
Widin, Oltenitza from Turtukai, and on the same day a Rumanian 
coast guard at Giurgevo was attacked by a Tm'kish monitor. A 
party of Bashi-Bazouks landed at Piketi, near the mouth of the 
Shyl, and burned several Rumanian merchantmen, but were diiven 
back by Rumanian cavalry. 

The Rumanian troops, in consequence of the undecided position 
of the Government, were, on the first day of the war, withdrawn 
from Kalafat and Giurgevo, but early in May they again took pos- 
session of these places, so that on the 8th they were able to answer 
the Turkish fire from Widin and other points. 

A greater activity became perceptible in the movements of the 
Russian troops on the Rumanian railroads after the 10th of May. 
On the 14th, the headquarters of the commander-in-chief were re- 
moved from Jassy to Ployeshti, where the Grand Duke was re- 
ceived by Prince Charles of Rumania. A report which had 
been in circulation of the formation of a Bulgarian legion, three 
thousand strong, in Bessarabia, and its march to join the Imperial 
forces, received apparent confirmation from the appearance of a Bul- 
garian company of honor drawn up at the railroad station during the 
ceremonies of reception. On the 15th, the Grand Duke visited the 
Prince, and held a conference with him at Bucharest. 
^A daring feat against the Turkish iron-clad s was performed on the 
25th of May. The situation of the largest of the Turkish monitors 
having been ascertained, a party of Russians under the command of 



THE RUSSIAN DECLARATION OF WAR. 



Lieut. Dabasliaffj and accompanied by a Rumanian officer, set out 
in the night toward the spot. A correspondent of the Leipsic 
Gartenlaube^ who accompanied the Russians as far as the river bank, 
and witnessed the action while awaiting their return, thus describes 
%vhat followed : 

" Suddenly a shot was heard and then a second. The light of the 
second showed to me for an instant a Turkish guard on board the 
monitor. ITow a shot was heard from the Rumanian shore. Five 
minutes afterward I again heard the paddling of wheels in the 
water, and soon one of the little steamers landed. One of the 
officers held one end of the wire, which I had before seen fastened 
to the torpedo. 

" ' Everything worked capitally,' an officer said. ' We took the 
monitor in the rear, while the others came in front. We reached 
the keel unnoticed,' and pointing to a dripping artillery-man, ' our 
diver there adjusted the thing in the right place. Those fellows 
must sleep very hard. They really had only one man on guard. 
He it was who challenged the other boat in Turkish. Our Ruma- 
nian friend, who really speaks Turkish very well, took the part of an 
officer belonging to the fleet, who was returning from Matchin 
rather tipsy, and told the guard not to make any fuss about it. 
When the steamer moved off, the Turk began to Are, but then, of 
course, it was too late. Here are the others.' .... After a while 
the officer holding the wire, asked : ^ Is it time 1 ' The engineer 

answered with a nod ' Back, back all ! ' some one cried 

out, and we all rushed up the bank, where the battery was stand- 
ing. Then there was an explosion so terrible that even now it 
seems to resound in my ears. After a short interval, another and 

then still another and louder explosion, and that was all The 

monitor had been literally blown into shreds by the terrible effect 
of the torpedoes filled with dynamite." 

The Emperor Alexander arrived in Ployeshti on the 6th of June, 
accompanied by his sons, the Grand Dulles Alexander, Yladimir, 
and Sergius, as well as by his military staff and his diplomatic and 
political chancery. 

From this time until the crossing of the Danube no action of any 
importance took place, although artillery duels were kept up almost 
constantly between the batteries on the opposite shores. The Rus- 
sians continued their advance rather slowly during May and June, 
considering their first spurt to the Danube. Their tardiness was 



234 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



cMeflj owing to the impassable condition of the Rumanian roads, 
which, in consequence of incessant rains, had become almost bottom- 
less, while the Danube, at as late a date as the beginning of June, 
was sixteen feet above its normal height. But all preparations for 
crossing were made. Four Russian pontoon-parks were sent by rail 
from Galatz to Bucharest and thence to the Danube. "Wooden ves- 
sels were constructed at Slatina and Galatz, and after they had 
been brought by rail to Slatina on the Aluta, were all moved 
down the Aluta to Turnu-Magurelli, on the left bank of the Danube 
opposite l^icopolis. Toi^edo boats were brought from Galatz to 
Slatina and to Fratesti near Giurgevo, in order to blockade the 
river, as soon as the crossing was possible, while gun-boats were 
brought up in parts to be put together and employed in scouting 
duty. 



CIRCASSIAN CAVALRY PASSING THROUGH A TURKISH TOWN. 



CHAPTER II. 



PASSAGE OF THE DANUBE AND THE BALKANS. 

Passage of the Danube at Galatz — Bombardment of Rustchuck — The Russians Cross at 
Sistova— Inactivity of the Turks— Proclamation of the Czar to the Bulgarians— Capt- 
ure of Braila and of Tirnova — The Balkan Passes — Gourko Crosses the Balkans — 
Capture of the Shipka Pass— Advance of Gourko into Rumelia— The Russians Capt- 
ure Lovatz — Storming of Nicopolis. 

As the passage of the Danube was delayed from day to day, the 
Czar became impatient, and ordered the passage from Qalatz and 
Braila to take place within three days, directing that everything be 
in readiness by that time, as he intended to be present to witness 
the passage. General Zimmermann, commanding at those points, 
pleaded for delay, and the Emperor reluctantly yielded. The 
passage was finally effected on June 23(1. It was described as follows 
by the correspondent of the J^ew York Herald : 

The programme was adroitly planned and carried out. It had 
been ascertained by Russian spies that the Turkish forces at 
Matchin were in no condition to oppose a crossing, if made in 
force, and that only straggling bands of Bashi-Bazouks were to be 
met among the low lands along the river. Accordingly before 
dawn a few barge loads of Cossacks were sent across from Galatz 
to Ghiacet. The crossing was assisted by small steamers, which 
performed the journeys with the barges as rapidly as possible. In 
this manner a sufficient number of these brave horsemen were soon 
across and mounted. They remained close to the river, having 
their sentries out to give notice of an approach of the enemy. The 
guns in the forts at Galatz fully covered the cavalry, and the gun- 
ners stood ready to serve their pieces at a signal from the Cossacks. 
So far as can be learned, the building of the bridge at Galatz par- 
takes of the natiu-e of a feint, because the great body of troops 
crossed into the Dobrudja at Braila. 

Meanwhile the same movement had been made at Braila. The 
barges at this place were not so large as at Galatz, and many valu- 
able Cossack ponies either fell or leaped from them into the river, 

(^35) 



236 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



but they were mostly saved by being lassoed and thns towed to the 
shore. In some instances the horses swam ashore at the call of 
their masters, who remained on the barges. After considerable 
delay several hundred men were landed and formed on a grassv 
slope about a quarter of a mile from the river, the intervening land 
being so marshy that the horses were led over it with great difficultv. 
All being ready at both points, the telegraph was put in requisition 
from Braila, and a simultaneous movement took place, the Cossachs 
advancing with gi'ea^ rapidity into the Dobrudja. The force landed 
at Braila had by far the more difficult task, for they were compelled 
to extend their line to the utmost, while the detachment fi-om 
Gralatz advanced along the main road and larger paths, outside of 
which it would be impossible for an enemy to approach or to flank 
them, because of the marshy condition of the country. In less 
than two hours the two lines of horsemen had formed a junction, 
the distance between Galatz and Braila, measured on the inside of 
the bend in the river, being only eighteen miles. Thus was formed 
a cordon of Cossacks between the river's bank and the enemy. The 
prominent part which the Cossack was thus made to play in the first 
real aggressive movement into the enemy's territory in Europe is 
worth noticing. It fully justifies all that has been written about 
the important ser\^ce which he, as a horseman, is likely to render to 
Hussia in the war. This brings the Cossack squarely to the front, 
and makes of him what the Uhlan was to the ti'oops of Pnissia, 
' Veclaweur par excellence.^ Under cover of this Cossack cordon, 
the pontoons were towed into position, and the bridges at the two 
points were soon laid, every plank being ready and every man hav- 
ing a particular service to perfonn. The Galatz bridge was much 
more easily built than the one at Braila, because at the latter place, 
on the Dobrudja side, the long stretch of swamp land before referred 
to had to be planked for the passage of the artillery. The foot 
soldiers did not wait for this event, however. Xo sooner had the 
last plank been laid in the main stracture than the men already 
drawn np in battalions were ordered to prepare for the crossing. 
Eight thousand men and two batteries of artillery then passed over 
as rapidly as possible, each battalion forming directly it had reached 
the dry ground. By the time the guns were ready to be brctught 
over, preparations for landing them across the marsh were finished. 
The enemy in the shape of scattered, irregular cavalry, had shown 
themselves at various points, and when the main body of troops 



PASSAGE OF THE DANUBE AND THE BALKANS. 237 

had formed and the batteries had been placed, the Cossacks were 
ordered forward to drive back the videttes. An advance was then 
made toward Matchin, the object being to attack at once, before the 
place could be reinforced. The Turks were found posted on a 
rang:e of hills to the north-westward of the town. The batteries on 
these hills opened on the invading Russian troops, and a strong de- 
tachment of irregulars sallied out to meet their inveterate foes, the 
Cossacks. They did not risk a close encounter, however, and a few 
shells from the Russian battery posted on the availed ilank dispersed 
the Bashi-Bazouks and caused their inglorious retreat under cover 
of the batteries on the hills. Without delay the Russians were 
ordered to advance and charge the batteries. After a severe hand- 
to-hand fight the outlying fortifications were captured and the guns 
turned upon the fleeing Turks. 

" The second assault followed as soon as the men could be re- 
foi-med, and, with the aid of the newly-acquired field-pieces, the 
heights were carried by storm. These most desperate struggles, in 
which the fighting was in many instances hand to hand, continued 
until late in the afternoon. Driven from their intrenched position 
the Turks fell back on Matchin. JS'ightfall of Friday settled down 
over the hills and valleys, and the victorious invaders deemed it 
wiser to rest on the suc(;esses of the day than to attempt to follow 
up the retreat of the Turks. But the Russians bivouacked for the 
night in the deserted camp. The camp fires burned brightly and 
could be seen, doubtless, from the village of Matchin, distant only 
two and a half to three miles. During the night the utmost activity 
prevailed in the camp, and it was soon generally known that Mat- 
chin was to be attacked on the morrow. It was impossible to ascer- 
tain the losses, but from their exposed position it is probable the 
Russians lost more men than the Turks. Prisoners captured place 
the number of the Turkish garrison at 6,000 men, but it is believed 
that this estimate is too large. The Turkish force probably num- 
bered 5,000, including the irregular cavalry. On yesterday (Satur- 
day, June 24:th) morning the battle was renewed. During the night 
the Turks had made great efibrts to strengthen some earthworks 
which were in front of the eastern or most feasible approach to the 
village, but after a few shells had been thrown into the intrench- 
ments and the town the Turks evacuated the former. The Russians 
advanced and occupied the town only to find that it had been aban- 
doned by the main body of the Turkish troops during the darkness. 



238 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Therefore by six o'clock on Saturday morning the Russians held the 
key to the Dobrudja." 

The Russian left wing at the time of the crossing comprised divi- 
sions of the 4th, 13th, and 14th corps. These coi-ps had been originally 
concentrated in Bessarabia, and were sent to the front to relieve the 
7th and 11th corps as soon as the reserve corps of 50,000 men had 
been mobilized for the defense of Odessa, the Crimea, and the 
northern coast of the Black Sea. The troops that first crossed the 
Danube belonged to the 14th corps. In the following week, con- 
siderable activity ^as manifested throughout the Russian lines. 
Large bodies of troops were moved down from Slatina to the 
Danube, where they took up positions between Turnu-Magurelli and 
Simnitza. At the same time the artiller-^fire was resumed by the 
whole Russian line. The fiercest fire was at Rustchuck, where it 
was commenced on June 24th, and as the Herald correspondent de- 
scribed it : "It soon seemed as if every Russian gun was fired sim- 
ultaneously, for the earth fairly trembled with the roar of the artil- 
lery and the shells flew over the doomed city with an awful and 
indescribable sound." The Turkish batteries promptly replied to 
the fire. The Russian fire, which seemed to have for its particular 
object the center of the city, caused great devastation. Mosques 
were destroyed and even hospitals and the foreign consulates were 
demolished. The house of the British Consul fared decidedly the 
worst, so that at last, in order to save his house from total destruc- 
tion, the Consul raised the American flag, but even that expedient 
was without avail. On Monday the entire population left the city 
and fled to the interior. The town was completely destroyed by the 
terrible fire, although the fortifications remained practically intact. 
The Turks in reply partly destroyed Giurgevo, into which, it was 
stated, they threw 1,600 shells within two days. At Nicopolis also 
the firing was very severe. On Monday, June 25th, the Russians 
occupied Hirsova. Having observed that everything was very quiet 
there, a party of Cossacks first crossed the Danube near Kalarash 
unopposed, advanced cautiously toward Hirsova and found it had 
been evacuated. On Tuesday, June 26th, the Russians succeeded 
in crossing from Simnitza to Sistova. This crossing, of great im- 
portance, as it opened the way for the hosts assembled along the 
Aluta, is described as follows by the correspondent of the London 
Daily News : 

" With the darkness General Dragomiroff began his dispositions. 




A COSSACK RECONNOISSANCE IN THE DOBRUDJA. 



PASSAGE OF THE DANUBE AND THE BALKANS. 241 



The first work was to plant in made emplacements a row of field- 
guns all along the edge of the flats to sweep with fire the opposite 
banks. This was while his infantry was being marched over the 
flats down into the cover of the willow wood. The darkness and 
the obstructions were both so great that all was not ready till the 
first glimmer of gray dawn. There w^as no bridge, but a number 
of river boats, capable of holding from fifteen to forty men each. 
These were dragged on carriages through the mud and launched in 
the darkness from under the spreading boughs of the willow trees. 
The troops embarked and pushed across as the craft arrived. Drag- 
omiroff stood on the slimy margin to bid his gallant fellows God- 
speed. He would fain have shown the way, for, although a scien- 
tific soldier, it was his duty to remain till later. The grateful task 
devolved on Major-General Yolchine, whose brigade consisted of the 
reginients of Yalinsk and Minsk, the Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth of 
the line. The boats put off singly, rowing across for the little cove, 
and later the little steam-tug was brought into requisition. 

" For once the Turks had not spent the night watches in heavy 
sleep. Their few cannon at once opened fire on the boats, on the 
hidden masses among the willows and on the columns marching 
across the flat. ]N"or was this all. From the slopes above the cove 
there came at the boats a smart infantry fire. The Turkish riflemen 
were holding the landing place. Yolchine has not gained experience 
and credit in Caucasian warfare for nothing. His boat was leading. 
The Turkish riflemen were in position about fifty yards from the 
shore. He landed his handful and bade them lie down in the mud. 
One or two were down previously with Turkish bullets. He opened 
a skirmishing fire to cover the landing boats that followed. One by 
one these landed their freights, who followed the example of the 
first boat load. 

"At length enough had accumulated. Young Skobeleff was there, 
a host in himseK. Yolchine bade his men fix bayonets, stand up 
and follow their ofiicers. There was a rush and a cheer that rang 
louder in the gray dawn than the Turkish volley that answered it. 
That volley was not fired in vain, but the Turks did not wait for 
cold steel. Yolchine's skirmishers followed them doggedly some 
distance up the slope, but for the time could not press on far from 
the base. Busily, yet slowly, the craft moved to and fro from shore 
to shore. The Russian guns had at once opened, when the Turkish 
fire showed that there was no sui-prise ; but, however heavy a fire 

13 



242 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



may be, it will not all at once crush another fire. The Turkish shells 
kept falling in the water, Avhistling through the willows, and burst- 
ing among the columns on the flat. One shell from a mountain 
gun fell into a boat containing two guns, their gunners, and the com- 
mandant of the battery. The boat was swamped at once, and all on 
board perished. This was the only serious casualty, but numerous 
Russian soldiers were falling on both sides of the river. ITeverthe- 
less the work was going steadily on, and when, soon after seven 
o'clock, I went to meet Prince Mirsky on the high ground before 
Simnitza, the report was that already the whole brigade of Yolchine 
had reached the other side, that a Russian battery was there, and 
that Dragomirofi himself had crossed. We stood for some time sur- 
veying the scene. 

" Cast your eye down there to your left front athwart the flats, and 
note the masses of troops waiting there or marching on toward the 
cover of the mllows. See the long row of guns in action there by 
the water's edge, covered by the battalions of infantry, in this case 
a mischievous conventionahty, owing to the exposure, for the Tur- 
kish cannon will not just yet be wholly silenced, l^ote how deftly 
the Russian shells pitch into that earthwork on the verge of Sistova. 
But the gallant gunners stubbornly fight their guns under the rain 
of fire, and when one gun is quiet another gives tongue. And what 
a mark ! Half an army corps out there on the fiat, with no speck of 
cover save that patch of willows down there. Hark to the crackle 
of musketry fire on the wooded slopes rising out from the cove, '^o 
wonder Yolchine's skirmishers are moving, for that Turkish batteiy 
on the sky line is dropping shells with fell swiftness among the wil- 
low trees. Sistova seems stark empty. It might be a city of the 
dead. But the Turkish gunners cling to their posts and theh^ guns 
with wonderful stanchness, amid clouds of dust thrown up by the 
shells which burst around them. ISTor are the single pieces among 
the trees wholly quiet. Shells are dropping among the troops on 
the flat and the ambulance men are hurrying about with brancards 
or plodding toward the military surgery with heavy, blood-sodden 
burdens. You may watch the shells drop into the water, starring 
its surface as they fall as if it had been glass. What a wonder that 
one and all should miss those clumsy, heavy-laden craft which stud 
the water so thickly. A shell in one of these boats would produce 
fearful results among the closely-packed freight. jN'ot less fell 
havoc would it work among the soldiers further on, massed there 
under the shelter of the clay bank. 



PASSAGE OF THE DANUBE AND THE BALKANS. 243 

" One realizes how great would liave been the Russian loss if the 
Turks had been in any great force in the Sistova position, and how, 
after all, the Commander-in-chief might have been forced to take a 
denial, accepting the inevitable. But as the affair stands, the whole 
thing might have been a spectacle specially got up for the gratifica^ 
tion of Simnitza enjoying the effect from the platform high-ground 
overhanging the flats. The laughter and bustle there are in strange 
contrast with the apparent absence of human life in Sistova, opposite. 
But then, Sistova was a victim lashed to the stake. Those on Sim- 
nitza Bluff knew their skins were safe. 

"Prince Mirski has received his reports and final instructions. 
Pie gives word to his division to move down on to the flats, to be in 
readiness to cross. Previously, their march finished, they had been 
resting on the grassy uplands behind Simnitza. As we leave the 
plateau the cry rises that a Turkish monitor is coming down the 
Danube. Sure enough, near the head of the island is visible what 
seems to be a large vessel with two funnels moving slowly down the 
stream. ISTow the ferryboats may look out. JnTow is the oppor- 
tunity for some dashing torpedo practice. But the Russian officers 
evince no alarm — rather, indeed, satisfaction. The fact is, as we 
presently discern with the glass, that seeming monitor is really two 
large lighters lashed together, which the Russians are drifting down 
to assist in transporting the troops. ]^o person is visible on board, 
yet some one must be steering, and the course held is a bold one. 
Slowly the lighters forge ahead past the very mouths of the Turkish 
cannon in the Sistova battery, and are barely noticed by a couple of 
shells. They bring to at the Rumanian shore higher up than the 
crossing place, and wait there for their freight. Prince Mirski takes 
his stand at the pontoon bridge to watch his division file past and 
greet the regiments as they pass him. 

" But in front of the ITinth division comes a regiment of the brig- 
ade of riflemen formed specially for this war, and attached to no army 
corps. This brigade is armed with Berdan rifles, and comprises the 
finest marksmen of the whole army. Prince Mirski's division is 
made up of four historic regiments which suffered most heavily in 
Sebastopol during the great siege. They are the i-egiments of 
Yeletsk, of Sefsk, of Orloff, and of Brianski, the Thirty-third, 
Thirty-fourth, Thirty-fifth, and Thirty-sixth of the Russian line. 
Yery gallantly they marched down the steep slope and aci'oss the 
bridge on to the swampy flats. Soon there greets them the scarcely 



244 ™^ ™^ EAST. 

enlivening spectacle, the surgery of the second line, where the more 
serious cases were being dealt with before forwarding them to the 
house hospitals in Simnitza. As Ave passed, about twenty shattered 
creatui-es were lying there on blood-stained stretchers waiting 
their turn at the hands of the doctors. More than one I noticed re- 
quired no further treatment than to be consigned to a • soldiei*'s 
grave. Beyond the first swamp we met a fine young officer of the 
Guards carried on a stretcher with a shattered leg. But the plucky 
youngster raised himself jauntily on his elbow to salute the general, 
and wrote a telegram in my note-book to acquaint his friends that 
he was not much hurt. A little further on, as we were passing the 
rear of the guns, the Grand Duke i^icholas the younger, son of the 
Commander-in-chief, rode off from the battery to greet our general. 
The members of the Imperial family of Bussia do not spare them- 
selves when other subjects of the Czar are exposing themselves on 
the battle-field. In Bussia it is not the fashion that lofty station 
gives exemption from the more dangerous tasks of patriotism. The 
young Grand Duke had been across the Danube and was in high 
spirits at the success of the enterprise. 

" Going still forward toward the willows we all but stuck, horses 
and all, in the deep, holding mud. It was admirable to see the 
energy with which the heavily-laden soldiers of the infantry column 
battled on doggedly through obstruction. I should have said earher 
that the troops were in complete marching order, and that for this 
day they had discarded their cool, white clothing, and were crossing 
in heavy blue clothing. Two reasons were assigned for this. One, 
the greater warmth to the wounded in case of lying exposed to the 
night chills. The other, that white clothing was too conspicuous. 
The latter reason is rubbish. Blue on the light ground of the Danube 
sand is more conspicuous than white. Everywhere, British scarlet 
is more conspicuous than any other. The true fighting color is the 
dingy kharki of our Indian irregulars. 

" And what of the Turkish monitor ? She had been hemmed in 
by a cordon of torpedoes within the side channel to the south of the 
island of East Yardim. Although she was puffing and blowing 
furiously in her circumscribed area, a Bussian battery moving down 
the river bank on the Bumanian side, shelled her into a melancholy 
victim of the acknowledged supremacy of the newest war machine. 
So the resistance terminated, and what followed is mere routine work. 
Iron pontoons began casually to make their appearance both from up- 



PASSAGE OF THE DANUBE AND THE BALKANS. 245 

stream and down-stream, and accumulated about the crossing places, be- 
ing used for the time as ferryboats. A complete pontoon is in reserve 
at Simnitza, and will be on the water's edge to-night and be laid to- 
morrow. Probably there will be two bridges, for this is the crossing 
place of the main column, and wdll be the great Eussian thorough- 
fare to and from Turkey. Simultaneously with the pontoon boats 
appeared on the scene the Emperor's brother, the Grand Duke 
IN'icholas, with Gen. Nepokoitchitzky, and spoiled my prospects of 
dinner by requisitioning the whole hotel. The Emperor did not 
turn up. 

" It is useless to waste more words. The crossing has been effected 
by a coup de main with marvelous skill and finesse. Until the last 
moment no hint was given. The foreign attaches were all abroad. 
The Emperor and suite were ostentatiously at Turnu-Magurelli, 
and yet further to promote the delusion, the Mcopolis position was 
assiduously bombarded the day before. The successful effort has 
probably cost only 1,000 men killed and wounded." 

With this crossing effected, the Russians had made a great step 
forward. Throughout Europe, and particularly in England, the 
achievement created considerable excitement. Speaking of its im- 
portance, the London Times said : 

" Since the days when an Emperor capitulated at Sedan, and a 
great army went into captivity from Metz, no event has created so 
intense an excitement as the passage of the Danube in force by the 
Russian army. In all the wars that have raged in the revolutionary 
period, which extends from 1848 to the present time, there has been 
no movement more colossal, more dramatic, and at the same time 
more closely affecting the interests of Europe and the futm-e course 
of history." 

The Russians, being now full}^ in the enemy's country, found the 
Turks chiefly massed on their left wing, in the garrisons occupying 
the fortresses of the quadrilateral. Away beyond their right wing- 
was Osman Pasha with his garrison at Widin, who might at any time, 
however, move up into a more threatening proximity to them. They 
had to consider, before advancing in force, the necessity of protecting 
their wing^s, especially the left, where the Turks were very strong, 
and of guarding their communications over the river. Apparently, 
a division of their force so as to carry out both pui-poses would be a 
hazardous operation, and leave both columns too weak to perform 
their work efficiently. Yet the temptations to go forward were very 



246 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



strong. Directly before them lay the road to Adrianople and Con- 
stantinople, the thought of which is associated with so many dreams 
of glory to the Russian mind. From Sistova they might march to 
the Yantra, and along its borders to Biela, whence three roads diverge 
to Rustchuk, Tn*nova, and Plevna ; thence up the valley of the Yan- 
tra to the larger city of Tirnova, the ancient capital of the Bulgarian 
Czars, the meeting-place of the roads of Western Bulgaria, which is 
connected with Shumla by a road, and is the starting-point of two 
passes over the Balkans ; further up the Yantra valley-road lay the 
towns of Drenova and Gabrova, from the latter of which places a 
good road leads, by way of Selvi and Lovatz, to West Bulgaria. 
From Gabrova also rises the mountain pass which leads over Shipka 
to Kasanhk in the Tundja valley, whence Adrianople may be reached 
either by marching down the Tundja, or by the shorter, more direct 
road through Eski Sagra and Kharskoi. The latter road has the ad- 
vantage for a hostile force, that the railways from Yamboli to Khars- 
koi and from Adrianople to Philippopolis can be most quickly 
reached by it. The Russians received unexpected help in carrying 
out the bold policy which they concluded to adopt, from the unac- 
countable supineness of the Turkish generals. 

Immediately after the crossing of the river, the Czar issued a proc- 
lamation to the Bulgarians, in which he promised to the Christians 
complete protection against all violence. Russia, he said, was ful- 
filling its sacred mission to protect the rights of the different nation- 
alities, and to pacify all races and w^orshipers. The Mussulmans 
also were promised protection and justice ; only the well-known au- 
thors of the atrocities which had been committed would be severely 
punished. 

At the same time that the crossing from Simnitza took place, the 
Russians made a serious demonstration at Tumu-Magurelli, a little 
higher up the stream, which might have been turned into a real at- 
tack, had a fair chance offered. The Russian forces were so distrib- 
uted in the neighboring villages that they could fall with ease upon 
Simnitza or Tumu-Magurelli, and the last moment it was uncertain 
which place would be chosen. On June 28th, the Emperor and the 
Grand Duke ITicholas took up their headquarters at Simnitza, and a 
few days afterward at Tsarevitza, near Sistova. 

The Turks remained completely inactive dm-ing the month of 
July, Abdul Kerim insisting that he had a plan which would event- 
ually result in the total defeat of the Russians. This inactivity at 



PASSAGE OF THE DANUBE AND THE BALKANS. 247 

one time seemed to threaten the Turkish army with the loss of the 
campaign, without a single battle being fought. It permitted the 
Russians to establish themselves in sufficient strength, to secure a 
fortified crossing-place, Sistova, to isolate the fortresses of Eust- 
chuk and Silistria, and to secure the passes of the Central Balkans. 
In these operations they were universally successful, meeting with 
but little opposition, as will be seen from a detailed account. The 
advanced guard of the army coming from Simnitza having secured 
the massive bridge over the Yantra, at Biela, on July 1st, a cavalry 
detachment under General Gourko, after a short engagement with 
about 3,000 Turks, captured Tirnova on July Yth, which place was 
strongly garrisoned by a large detachment of infantry. During the 
following days the main army secured a strong position along the 
line of the Yantra, with its front toward Osman Bazar and Bas- 
grad, while to secure its rear, detachments of Cossacks scoured the 
country to the west as far as Lovatz and Plevna. At the same time 
preparations were made for the operations against the passes of the 
Central Balkans by General Gourko, after he had previously occu- 
pied Gabrova, where most of the roads north of the Balkans crossed 
each other. 

The Balkan Mountains, which the Russians had now reached, 
formed the second line of defense for the Turks. They are for the 
most part impassable, being crossed by only a few known passes, 
which were all held and strongly fortified by the Turks. Besides 
these passes, however, there are a number of bridle-paths and secret 
passes, known only to the Bulgarians. The passes may be properly 
divided into two groups, radiating respectively from Shumla in the 
east, and Tirnova in the west. The Tirnova group comprises the 
Shipka Pass and the Tvarditza Pass. The Sliipka Pass is reached 
from Tirnova by a road running through Gabrova, and is at its sum- 
mit 4,500 feet above the sea. From this pass there is a beautiful view 
on the valley below, where the town of Kasanlik lies, almost hidden 
by the numerous rose gardens, from which is drawn the material for 
the attar of roses, which is manufactured here. The Tvarditza Pass 
is reached from Tirnova by a road through the valley of the Saltar 
to Elena, whence a path goes over the mountains to the village of ' 
Tvarditza into the valley of the Tundja, and along the left bank of 
this river to the town of Kasanlik. It is abont 4,000 feet high. A 
little beyond Tvarditza the Balkans branch off into three separate 
ranges, the Kutchuk or Little Mountains, the Stara Planina or Old 



248 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Mountains, and the Emineli Dagli, running to Cape Emineh ; and 
through, these run the various passes belonging to the Shumla group. 
In the hollow between the Kutchuk and the Stara Planina branches 
of the Balkans, surrounded on every side by the steep hills, lies the 
town of Kasan, called by the Bulgarians Kotel (kettle), from the 
peculiar shape of the gorge enclosing it. Through this gorge passes 
the road from Osman Bazar, crossing on its way the Binar and Kut- 
chuk ranges. West of Kasan lies the famous pass of Demir Kapu 
or Iron Gate, a narrow and gloomy defile of unusual strength. The 
chain may also be crossed from Kasan by another route, running south- 
eastward through the narrow defile of Kotlenski Buaz, and entering 
the town of Karnabad from the west. The latter place is, moreover, 
accessible by another pass, the Dobrot Pass. This, although the most 
direct approach from Shumla, can be reached only by taking or mask- 
ing that fortress, which completely commands the road leading to it. 
This pass is 2,000 feet high. The road leading to Aides over the 
Nadir-Derbent Pass, starts from Pravadi on the Yarna Pailroad. 
The first part of the line of march is the most difficult of the east- 
ern routes. By this pass Gen. Rudiger, in 1829, crossed the Balkans, 
while his colleague, Gen. Roth, avoided the mountains by taking the 
shore road from Yarna to Missivri. Besides these is the Topolnitza 
Pass in the Western Balkans, near Etropol, which has more than 
once played an important part in the history of mediaeval Europe. 

On July 12th, General Gourko set out from Tirnova to cross the 
Balkans. Instead, however, of choosing the Shipka Pass, he 
marched from Tirnova on the road to Slivno, and then a little 
beyond Elena turned to the south, crossing the Balkans on one of 
those small bridle-paths known only to the native Bulgarians. The 
passage, owing to the difficulties of the country, was a very difficult 
one. A correspondent of the London Times, who accompanied the 
expedition, spoke of it as follows : 

" Two passes, well known, lead through the mountains in this 
direction, the one by Gabrova, the other by Elena. We are at- 
tempting to pass between them along such a path as guides take a 
tourist who wishes to ascend a mountain where there is no road. 
Sometimes in a valley there is a good cart track for a mile or so, 
then the way lies along the bed of a stream ; but two squadrons of 
Cossacks, and another of Cossacks turned into mounted sappers, 
have reached the top of the pass, and made such alterations as 
render it practicable for guns, practicable after a fashion, but very 



GENERAL GOURKO. 



THE ROAD TO THE SHIPKA PASS. 



PASSAGE OF THE DANUBE AND THE BALKANS, 25 I 



difficult Yet all the while the Cossack improvised sappers 

ai-e hard at work preparing the road for the artillery. It is a mere 
mountain path, leading partly across or along streams, partly aroimd 
hill-sides, sometimes hanging many feet above the stream, and 
slopino^ dano-eroiislv toward it. General Ranch is there in front, and 

the men are doing their best For the artillery, especially for 

the last battery, because the others had cut up the road, the day's 
work was terrible ; nearly all the drivers were pressing their horses 
and laying on their whips with true Eussian good-will, the gunners 
pushing and pulling, i^ever did horses work harder ; yet the guns 
hung behind, for it is doubtful whether guns were ever taken along 
such roads before at such a pace." 

On the 14th he reached Hainkoi on the southern slope of the 
Balkans. Small detatchments of the enemy which were met here 
were repulsed, as well as on the following days at various other 
points. On the ITth the enemy was also driven from Kasanlik, and 
the village of Shipka, lying to the north, was taken after a short 
engagement. On the same day Prince Mirski, with the Orloif in- 
fantry regiment and the 30th Don Cossacks, attacked the Shipka 
Pass from the north, coming from Gabrova. The Turks were well 
intrenched here, with fourteen tabors of infantry and eight guns, 
and after having been driven from their more advanced positions 
at the point of the bayonet, they made, for a time, a desperate 
resistance, the Pussians losing over two hundred dead and wounded. 
But fearing to be surrounded both from the north and the south, 
they withdrew on the 19th, leaving their artillery in the hands of 
the Eussians. During his march in the valley of the Tundia, 
General Gourko had sent a cavalry detachment to the south, which 
cut the telegraph wires at Teni Sagra. Detachments of Cossacks 
also made their appearance at Tamboli. Two days before the cap- 
ture of the Shipka Pass, a detachment of troops under General 
Sherebkoff occupied Lovatz, which was of great importance in se- 
curing the right wing of the Balkan positions. 

The Russians had gained possession of the line of the Yantra 
from Sistova to Gabrova, and had immediately prepared for the 
march over the Balkans. In order to secure their hue, they must 
gain a considerable extent of territory on their right and left, and 
form for themselves a secure, broad basis of operations, which ex- 
tending as far to the east as the Tm-kish line of Rustchidi, Easgrad 
and Shumla, should include the river Lom in its scope, and should 



252 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



stretch westwardly over the Osma YaEey to the river Yid. In the 
west, lay on the Osma the important tomis of Xicopolis, BnlgarenJ, 
Lovatz, Trojan, Selvi, east of Trojan, Plevna fm-ther west on the 
river Yid. If they were masters of this territory extending fi'om 
the Yid to the Lom, they wonld have a solid position against the 
qnadiilateral, and any force which might come out from it wonld 
also he secm^e against attack fi'om Widin, ]S^issa, and Sophia on the 
west, and wonld be able to gnard theii' troops in the Balkans 
against an attempt to cnt them off. 

The fii'st point of attack was Xicopolis. This is a very ancient 
and important fortress, and was the scene of the defeat of the 
French and Hungarian anny by Sultan Bayazid, iu 1396. It threat- 
ened Sistova and the right wing of the Enssians, and its captui'e 
was indispensable to the success of a further advance. The move- 
ment had been made against it even before the successes of General 
Gourko in the Balkans, and the position, with its garrison of six 
thousand men, had surrendered to the Eussians on the 15th. The 
correspondent of the ^ew York Serald gives the following account 
of the operations previous to the surrender : 

" A crossing at !Nicopolis possesses many advantages over that at 
Sistova. The river's cm-rent is not as sti'ong, and a number of 
small islands -fronting Tumu-Magm-elli are very favorably located 
for bridging purposes. In reality Xicopohs was the selected point 
for the orioinal crossino^ of the Danube, but circumstances and the 
Tm'ks forced the adoption of the Sistova line. The batteries at 
Turnu-MagTLrelli had reduced Xicopohs to rains ; but the two Mils 
on which the town was bmlt completely sheltered the Turkish forces 
from the Eussian iiie. Therefore, it became necessary to attack 
the town and position from the Bulgarian side of the river. For 
this pm^30se a considerable force of infantiy was massed west of 
Sistova, and during the concenti-ation these troops served to cover 
the crossing. TThen the two coi-ps had established themselves in 
the dii'ection of Biela and Tii'nova the covering body was prepared 
to move on !Xicopolis. But, in the meantime, the Tuiks were 
strengthening theii' position and preparing to defeat the clearly 
apparent object of theii- enemy. AU the indications, therefore, 
pointed to a bloody struggle for the possession of Xicopolis, and, to 
speak truly, neither side seemed over- anxious to begui it. The 
threatened failure of the Sistova bridge and the frequent intemip- 



PASSAGE OF THE DANUBE AND THE BALKANS. 253 

tions of traffic, necessitated by the repairs, forced the Kussiaiis to 
make the attack. 

" The e:^tensive swamp and lake west of Sistova interfered con- 
siderably with the Eussian advance, although it afforded a decided 
protection against Turkish attack from that side. The Cossacks liad 
been skirmishing and scouting for more than two days in the direc- 
tion of Plevna and ITicopolis, and their operations and activity 
masked the preparations of the attacking column very effectually. 
Finally the order for the Russian advance was given, and after an 
arduous march around the lake and toward JSTicopolis, the contend- 
ing forces came into collision. The Turks had taken the precaution 
to cover then* position by double lines of pickets, supported, at in- 
tervals, by several companies of picked troops. This was to guard 
against the raids of the Cossacks, whose enterprise has impressed 
itself thoroughly upon the Turkish mind. These hues of pickets 
made what might be termed a formal show of resistance, and slowly 
retired on the main body. As soon as the Russians came within 
effective range of the Turkish position they were met by a severe 
artillery fire, which, however, did not check their advance, and to 
which they replied with a still more formidable fire. The Turks 
being posted on a commanding position had a considerable advan- 
tage, and, as the Russians approached, frightful gaps were made in 
their ranks by the Turkish artillery. With surprising valor, how- 
ever, they continued to approach the heights, and as soon as they 
came within rifle range they opened a terrible fire on the Turks. 
Eor half an hour this musketry duel continued with unabated vigor. 
The Russians, in the meantime, developed their front, so as to ap- 
proach theii- left in the direction of the Osma River. This was a 
movement which threatene^d the Turkish line of retreat to the south- 
westward and westward. About midday on Sunday the order for 
the assault was given, and the whole Russian line, supported by 
several batteries of artillery, advantageously posted, stormed the 
heights occupied by the Turks. During this awful chmb, in the 
face of a deadly fire, the Russians suffered terribly ; wiiile the Tm-ks, 
stubbornly defending their position, sustained equal losses. But the 
onset was so impetuous that the Turks could not withstand it and 
were driven headlong over the crest of the hills toward E"icopolis, 
followed by the Cossacks and detachments of light infantry." 

The Russians, who were commanded by Baron Kriidener, fought 



254 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



with great bravery, according to all accounts. The entire TurMsh 
garrison, consisting of 6,000 men, with Hassan and Achmed Pashas, 
surrendered to the victors, together with two monitors and forty 
cannon. 

The capture of l^ficopolis gave to the Knssian armj, for the first 
time, a secure foothold on the right bank of the Danube. A bridge 
was not constructed at this point, but a regular communication with 
Turnu-Magurelli, on the Eumanian bank, was established by boats. 
The advance of the Russian columns which, since the beginning of 
July, and the occupation of the Yantra bridge at Biela, had been 
directed against the western front of the quadrilateral, and against 
the passes of the central Balkans, conld now proceed more smoothly. 
Active preparations were made to take Rustchuk. The Twelfth 
and Thirteenth corps, nnder the command of the Czarevitch, were 
detailed to invest this fortress. In the middle of July the advance 
guard had reached the heights on the left bank of the Black Lorn, 
and had repulsed several advances of the garrison under Eshreff 
Pasha. But as these troops were not deemed sufficient, the Eleventh 
division of the Eleventh corps and a part of the Eleventh cavalry 
division were added, so that at the close of July the army of the 
Czarevitch consisted of fully two and two-thu'd coi-ps, which enabled 
him to extend the crescent-shaped position of his lines south of 
Eustchuk, beyond Kadikoi to the railroad station, Yetova, thus in- 
terrupting the communication by rail between Rustchuk and Shumla. 
But even these forces did not suffice to complete the investment of 
Rustchuk from the land, for it was absolutely necessary to send 
several brigades up the Lorn into the neighborhood of Osman Bazar, 
for the Turks had drawn a large number of the troops stationed at 
Yarna and Shumla to Rasgrad, and had strongly fortified themselves 
at that place. The 50,000 men under Achmet Ey ub Pasha, which 
were gathered at this point, formed the real army of operation, of 
which two brigades were advanced as far as Eski Djunia and Osman 
Bazar, while Turkish outposts extended as far as Yenikoi. The re- 
mainder of July was filled up with unimportant engagements of the 
outposts and a bombardment of Rustchuk from Giurgevo, frequently 
interrupted by long pauses. 




THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER II. IN THE NEVSKI PROSPEKT, 
ST. PETERSBURG. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE m ARMENIA. 

Sketcli of the Field of tlie Armenian Campaign— Its History— First Advance of the 
Russians — Capture of Bayazid — Capture of Ardahau— Gen. Melikofl before Kars — 
Gen. Tergukassoff at Zeidekan — The Turks everywhere Retreating "before the 
Russians. 

The district wMch was the scene of operations in Asia is a conn- 
try possessing considerable historical interest, and has been the scene 
of important expeditions and fierce wars during several thousand 
years. Extending from the Caucasus Mountains to Lake Yan, and 
from the eastern boundary of Turkey to Erzerum, it includes the 
ancient Colchis, the objective point of the Argonautic Expedition, 
the first commercial enterprise mentioned in Grecian history, and 
the central part of the former kingdom of Armenia. The head- 
waters of the Euphrates and Araxes are within or near its borders ; 
and on its eastern edge, between Russian Erivan and Turkish 
Bayazid, almost directly in the line of march of the Russian left 
wing, stands the mountain called Ararat. The expeditions of Cy- 
rus and Darius marched through Armenia when they went to give 
to the Scythians of the region between the Don and the Danube, 
the present Little Russia, an impression of the power of the 
Pei-sian Empire. Later in Persian history, the famous retreat of 
the ten thousand Greeks, the story of which, related by its leader, is 
still one of the most cherished treasures of classical literature, was 
conducted by Xenophon after the disastrous defeat at Cunaxa, up 
the Tigris to the shores of Lake Van, whence it proceeded north- 
westwardly, most probably by way of the site of what is now Erze- 
rum, which was then occupied by several wealthy villages — Hassan 
Ivaleh, Zewin, Bard ess, Olti, and Gymnias, supposed now to be Ardan- 
utcli — ^places whose names will appear frequently in the course of 
the present history— to Trebizond, on the Black Sea. The battles 
which decided the fate of Armenia during the wars of Alexander 
the Great, were fo::ght around it, but not within it; but the region 

(^55) 



256 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



again appears as a field of battles during the wars of the Eomans 
with Mithridates, King of Pontus, when Tigranes, who had made 
a considerable kingdom of the Greater Armenia, or Armenia east of 
the Euphrates, provoked an invasion of the Romans, bj giving sup- 
port to their foe. Armenia remained independent, and upon the 
rise of the Parthian Empire, became an object of contention 
between that power and the Eomans. The Emperor Trajan 
took possession of the country a.d. 115, and made it a Roman prov- 
ince, but his successor, Hadrian, restored it to its sovereign and to 
independence. The kingdom was overcome by Sapor, King of Per- 
sia, in the middle of the third century of the Christian Era, but re- 
covered its independence under Tiridates, twenty-seven years after- 
ward. It was made tributary to Persia on the death of this king, 
A.D. 342, and became a Persian province a few years afterward. The 
heroic and protracted resistance which was made by Artogerana, a 
fortress situated near the head- waters of the Tigris, and the last 
place in Armenia that surrendered to the Persian King, is a fitting 
parallel to the famous defense which was made by Kars against the 
siege by the Russians in 1854. Early in the fifth century the coun- 
try was divided between the Persians and the Romans, upon the 
conclusion of a truce between those nations. The Romans sup- 
ported Arsaces, the successor of the regular line of sovereigns, as 
king of their part. Upon the death of Arsaces, the district was re- 
duced to the condition of a subject province. Thirty years afterward 
the Persians substituted a provincial governor for the king whom 
they had allowed to reign over their part of the territory, and the 
kingdom of Armenia was extinguished after having enjoyed a pre- 
carious existence of more than five hundred and sixty years, durmg the 
most of which time it had been a coveted object of contention be- 
tween the two great rival powers of the world. In the eleventh 
century Armenia, sharing the fate of Persia and the Asiatic posses- 
sions of the Eastern Empire, fell into the hands of the Tm-ks. The 
western part has remained bound with Turkey; the eastern part 
formed a portion of the new Persian Empire till 1828, when aU of 
the Persian territory north of the Araxes was ceded to Russia. 

The country is extremely rugged, being crossed by nearly parallel 
mountain chains rising to from 8,000 to 12,000 or more feet in 
height. The mountains contain difficult passes through which are 
carried the few roads which the nature of the country allows to be 
constructed, and of which the capacities for defense make them 



THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE E\ ARMENIA. 



dreaded by an invading force. The valleys are watered by the source 
of rivers which find their way into the Persian Gulf and the Black 
and Caspian Se;i>, an 1 afford a s: >il which admits of excellent culti- 
vation, extending niten to a considerable height up the mountain. 
They are also the sites of numerous towns, many of which are quite 
important and flourishing. The climate is one of extremes. The 
winters, owing to the height of the mountains, are long and severe, 
while the heat during the short summer ui many places rises to a 
point exceeding any temperature that is experienced in the United 
States. The snow, even in the southern parts of the district, re- 
mains on the mountain tops till July or August. The backward- 
ness of the spring occasioned by the protracted stay of the large 
snow-masses, makes extensive military operations impracticable till 
late in the season. The earlier Eussian campaign of 18TT was 
further impeded by unusually heavy masses of snow and severe rains, 
which made most of the roads nearly impassable. Then, when the 
summer comes, the heat and drought are so extrenie as to weaken the 
strength of men not accustomed to the climate, and seriously im- 
pair the force of the army. 

The headquarters of the Russian operations were at Tiflis, the 
capital of the province 01 Georgia, the political and military center 
of Transcaucasian Russia. This city is in communication with 
European Russia by means of a military road leading to the pass of 
Yladikavkas, about ninety miles north in the Caucasus Mountains, 
whence a connection exists by a railroad five hundred miles in 
length to Rostov on the river Don. This road might be entu'ely 
closed by an enemy at the pass of Yladikavkas, or Dariel, a magnifi- 
cent gorge, which is described as resembling in some of its feat- 
ures the Yosemite Yalley of California, over which the road passes 
at a height of eight thousand feet above the sea. Another road ex- 
tends from Tiflis north-westwardly to Kutais in the Rion Yalley, and 
along the coast by Sukhum-Kaleh to Anapa Kertch. The road be- 
tween Tiflis and Kutais is a railway, which is continued to Poti, on 
the sea. This route, although it is well guarded, was impracticable 
in the present war, because it reaches no good harbors, and is ex- 
posed to the attacks of the Turkish fleets which have command of 
the eastern waters of the Black Sea, in such landing-places as are 
accessible to it, and because the region through which it passes is in- 
habited by the untrustworthy tribe of the Abkhasians. 

Russian operations were attended with disadvantage, growing out 



258 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



of the superior marine facilities enjoyed l)y the Turks. Aside from 
their possessing a large excess of naval force over the Russians, the 
only good port near the theater of war — Batum — was in their hands 
Its harbor affords a secure anchorage for vessels of any draught of 
water ; it can be reached by two routes from Tiflis, and would afford 
an easy route of communication by the valley of the Tchoruk River 
with the Russian posts in Turkish Armenia. Of the two posts be- 
longing to Russia, Poti, at the mouth of the Rion River, is inaccessi- 
ble to large vessels, and Sukhum-Kaleh, further north, is extremely 
unhealthy, and is cut off from the interior by hills and numerous 
streams. Hence the Russians attached importance to their opera- 
tions against Batum, which were directed not more to capturing it 
for themselves than to preventing the Turks from using it to their 
annoyance. 

Batum should have already belonged to Russia instead of to 
Turkey, and would have been given to it at the peace of Adrianople 
in 1828, but for a blunder of a clerk which has hardly a parallel in 
history. It was arranged in the preliminaries to the treaty that the 
Tchoruk River should be made the boundary between the two coun- 
tries, and Batum thus be thrown into Russia ; but the clerk who 
made the final draft of the treaty, by the mistake of a single letter, 
named the Tcholuk River, an insignificant stream, instead, and thus 
threw the boundary several miles north-west of Batum. When the 
error was discovered, it was too late to correct it. 

The Turkish territory was defended by a system of four strong 
fortress towns, so arranged as to form what military writers call a 
qnadrilateral. These were, Batum, already mentioned ; Trebizond, 
an important port on the Black Sea, about 100 miles west of Batum ; 
Kars, which is near the Russian boundary, facing the great Russian 
fortress at Alexandropol ; and Erzerum, the capital of the province. 
The space included between these forts gave room for the operations 
of a large army of defense, while of the two eastern forts, which 
the Russians would have to carry, one, Kars, was counted as among 
the strongest fortresses in the world, and the other, Batum, proved 
capable of resisting the strongest attacks which the Russians could 
make npon it during the whole summer of 1877. The other out- 
lying forts, Ardahan and Bayazid, were considered as subsidiary to 
the greater forts, and of inferior importance. Ardahan was con- 
sidered a work of superior strength, while Bayazid was so weak that 
it yielded readily to every serious attack that was made upon it. 




THE GRAND DUKE MICHAEL. 



CITADEL OF TIFLIS. 




THE DEFILE OF DARIEL IN ARMENIA. 



THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE IN ARMENIA. 



261 



The Russian plan of campaign contemplated a simultaneous move- 
ment toward Erzerum, by three columns moving from near the 
northern and southern extremities and the center of the boundary- 
line between Eussia aud Tm-key, while a fourth auxiliary column, 
mider General Oklobjio, was stationed in the valley of the Rion River 
to watch Batum and co-operate in the movements which were to 
be undertaken against that port. 

The force with which the operations were begun consisted of 
seven divisions of infantiy, which had not yet been organized as a 
corps, but were banded together as the army of the Caucasus. It 
numbered, including the battalions which had to be left to keep 
watch over the native population of the Caucasus, 180,000 infantry 
and 45,000 cavalry ; or, -deducting these detachments, about 140,000 
infantiy and riflemen with then' artillery, 12,000 cavahy, and 372 
field-guns available for offensive operations. The force was 
strengthened by the levy of irregular mounted troops among the 
Caucasians, and by the addition of the Caucasian siege-batteries, with 
several battalions of artillery from the fortresses. The whole was 
under the command of the Grand Duke Michael, Governor of the 
Caucasus. The direction of the advance and operations in the field 
was intrusted to General Loris Melikoff. The center, under the 
personal command of General Melikoff, was posted at the fortress 
of Alexandropol (called Gumri by the Turks), close upon the border, 
about one hundred miles south-west, or one hundred and forty-four 
miles by road from Tiflis, with which city it is connected by tele- 
graph. It consisted of the Caucasian Grenadiers and the Thirty- 
ninth division of infantry, the Caucasian dragoons, and the Terek 
Cossack division of four regiments and two mounted batteries, with 
volunteer cavalry, and numbered about 45,000 men. 

The right wing, under the command of General Dew ell, was 
stationed at the fortress of Akhalzildi, also near the boundary, about 
156 miles north-west of Alexandropol, toward the Black Sea, about 
100 miles due west, and 119 miles by road from Tiflis. A support- 
ing and connecthig detachment was placed at Fort Akhalkalaki, 
about half way between Akhalzikh and Alexandropol. 

The left wing, called also the Erivan column, consisting of the 
Thirty-eighth division of infantry, with cavalry, under the command 
of Genei-al Tergukassoft', was assembled in front of the city of 
Erivan, which hes in the mountains south-east of Alexandropol, and 
about 150 miles south-west of Tiflis. 
14 



262 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The three columns presented a front of nearly 220 miles, facing 
the bonndarj-line, and were separated from each other bj distances 
of about sixty-two miles and 156 miles respectively as well as by 
high mountains. 

The Turkish line of defense covered the whole frontier from Baya- 
zid to the Black Se^a, but was removed some miles back from it. It 
extended from the port of Batum, on the Black Sea, to Ardahan, 
on the left bank of the river Kur, thence southward to Kars, after 
which it bent around, following the frontier to Bayazid. It de- 
pended, for its natural bulwark, upon the confused mass of rocky 
mountains with which the country is occupied. The second hne of 
defense passed through Trebizond, on the Black Sea, Erzerum, and 
Yan, but the troops destined to protect it were nearly all concen- 
trated at Ei^erum, so that they might be rapidly directed against the 
advancing Russians, should they break through the first lines. 

The Turks had to occupy these lines and oppose the Russian ad- 
vance, a force which was estimated at about Y0,000 men, with 200 
pieces of field-artillery. Of this force about 18,000 men were 
stationed at Kars and in front of that city ; 7,000 men were stationed 
on the road from Erzerum to Bayazid ; about 8,000 men were near 
Ardahan, on the road from Erzerum to Akhalzikh ; about 20,000 
men were at Batum, and about the same number were around 
Erzerum. The whole force was under the command of Ahmed 
Mukhtar Pasha. 

Of the routes to be followed by the three advancing columns of 
the Russians, the shortest and least difiicult was that given to the 
center. On the other hand, the advance might expect to encounter 
the mass of the Turkish army on this road, and to have its progress 
impeded also by the interposition of the important and remarkably 
strong fortress of Kars. The nature of the valley of Kars is, how- 
ever, such as to permit an aniiy to go around that fortress on either 
side, pressing forward, as the Russians actually did. Beyond Kars 
another obstacle presented itseK in the range of the Soghanli 
Dagh, a line of hills rising about fourteen hundred feet above the 
level of the surrounding country, and nearly eight thousand feet 
above the sea, and stretching obliquely for a distance of thirty-seven 
miles between Kars and Erzerum. The two passes over this range 
are capable of an energetic and obstinate defense, and are seldom 
free from snow before the middle of July. 

The route of the right wing from Akhalzikh by way of Ardahan 



THE R U SSI AN AD VANCE IN ARMENIA. 263 

and Olti to Erzeram, is a little longer (188 miles) than that followed 
by the center, and presents but little difficulty till the fortified city 
of Ardahan is reached. From this point the road to Erzerum is 
more difficult, but that to Kars is comparatively easy. 

The third line of march, that pursued by the left wing, was the 
longest of the three. The principal obstacles to be apprehended 
were the citadel of Bayazid, which proved to be easily overcome, 
and the passes of the mountains between the Upper Euphrates and 
the Araxes, among which the first campaign, as it proved, was des- 
tined to receive its fatal blow. The road from Bayazid to Erzerum 
is a part of the great caravan road upon which the trade between 
Trebizond and Persia is conducted, and is one of the most important 
roads in the East. 

The forward movement was begun by the three columns simulta- 
neously, on the 24th of April. The center pressed forward directly 
toward Kars, thirty-eight miles from its starting-point at Alexandro- 
pol, with the purpose of investing that fortress and then advancing 
toward Erzerum, one hundred and seventy-five miles further south- 
west. The two wings were expected to assist in this movement, the 
right wing by disabling the fortress of Ardahan, and then by a flank 
movement from the north against the Turkish force opposed to the 
center, supporting that column in its effort to cross the Soghanli 
Dagh, the mountain range lying between Kars and Erzerum ; 
while the left wing was to march from Erivan southward to Baya- 
zid, and having carried that point, to turn toward the north-west 
and force its way to Erzerum. 

Erzerum, the objective point of the campaign, is the capital of the 
province of the same name, and is the most important road-station 
in Tui'kish Armenia. It has a population variously estimated at be- 
tween thirty thousand and fifty thousand ; is situated in a mountain- 
ous country, on a plateau some seven thousand feet above the level 
of the sea, at the point where all the roads from Constantinople to 
the east converge, and whence they again diverge as they continue 
their way eastward. It is, therefore, a town of considerable commer- 
cial importance. It is estimated that at least 81,500,000 worth of 
English goods find their way to this place every year. The city is 
described by travelers as presenting a beautiful and imposing ap- 
pearance at a distance, but being squalid and filthy within. It is a 
prominent missionary station of the American Board. The old for- 
tifications of Erzerum had been allowed to fall into decay till they 



264 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



bad become substantially of no wortb, but they bad been renewed 
previous to tbe beginning of tbe Russian operations, so tbat at this 
time they made the town one of the most formidable positions in 
the whole Empire, and competent to resist a long attack before it 
could be forced to surrender. 

The central column on the 28th of April reached Zaim, a village 
in the valley of the Kars Tchai, without having met any serious 
opposition. A reconnoitering force was sent forward under Major- 
General Prince Tchavtchavadze, which went around both sides of 
the fortifications of Kars and destroyed several miles of the telegraph 
line to Erzerum. On the next day the detachment encountered a 
column of eight Turkish battalions, and on the following day had 
another skirmish at Yisinkoi, south-east of the fortifications of Kars. 
It was joined at that point by a division of Caucasian Grenadiers, 
which Gen. Melikoff in person had led up to its support by the way 
of Chaliph Oglu. Gen. Melikoff opened fire from his batteries upon 
the Turkish detachment which had taken up a position under cover 
of the advanced works of Kars, and disabled one of the enemy's 
guns. He returned on the 1st of May to his camp at Zaim, having 
lost during the artillery engagement one man killed and five 
wounded, and carrying with him more than one hundred prisoners. 
The enemy, leaving a strong garrison at Kars, retired to Bardess in 
the direction of Erzerum, in a position where they could hold the 
passes of the Soghanli Dagh. 

Gen. Tergukassoff, with the left wing, appeared before Bayazid on 
the morning of the 30th of April. The town, which was deficiently 
fortified, was occupied by only about thirteen hundred male inhabit- 
ants, with a garrison of seventeen hundred soldiers, who, upon the 
approach of the Russian advance guard, fell back into the Ala Dagh 
Mountains, leaving behind a considerable supply of munitions. The 
town and citadel were occupied by the Russians. A scouting party, 
under Count Grabbe, was despatched from Culpi on the Araxes to 
Kagisman, where that river is crossed by the road leading from Kara 
Kilissa to Kars, and there meeting, on the 6th of May, a regiment of 
dragoons sent down from Kars by Gen. Melikoff, opened a communi- 
cation with the center. 

A tentative attack was made upon the works of Kars on the 3d of 
May, which was repulsed by the Turks. The Russians had, how- 
ever, decided that it would not be necessary for them to delay to 
capture this place, but that the purpose of neutralizing its efficiency 



THE RUSSIAN AD VANCE IN ARMENIA. 



265 



as an obstacle to tlieir advance could be gained by leaving behind a 
part of their force to invest it and subject it to a continued bom- 
bardment, while the rest of the column pushed forward. 

Kars is a city of about twelve thousand inhabitants, lying in a 
bend of the Kars-Tchai or Kars Eiver, which running to the north 
here, afterward turns to the north-east, then to the east, and finally 
to the south-east, taking a nearly semicu-cular form, and empties into 
the Arpa Tchai at the boundary between Turkey and Russia. The 
city is surrounded with a double-walled line of fortifications, with 
five bastions. A citadel of stone several stories high, and accessible 
only from the city, stands upon a hill overlooking the town. The 
citadel is connected with the river by an underground passage of 
three hundred steps. In addition to this, the position is guarded by 
nine other forts, with casemates and bomb-proofs, which are con- 
nected with each other by intermediate redoubts. One of these 
forts, which stands north-west of the city, on a steep bald summit, 
contained most of the provisions and ammunition stores, and over- 
looks all the suiTOunding buildings. Still higher are the forts Kara 
Dagh Tabia and Arab Tabia, standing on the Kara Dagh (Bla^^k 
Mountain), east of Kars, and supported by redoubts, which were re- 
garded by Hussein Avni Pasha as the most formidable obstacles to 
the advance of the Russians in Asiatic Turkey, and are the actual 
key to the place. A line of forts or redoubts begins opposite the 
Kara Dagh across the river, and runs south-westwardly to opposite 
the citadel, including the forts Teesdale, Thompson, Zohrab, Church- 
hill, and Lake, the whole system being known as the Ingliz Tabias, 
or the English forts. Of these. Fort Lake is the strongest, and 
shares with Kara Dagh the importance of a key to the position. 
Nineteen hundred yards west of Fort Lake are the heights of Tah- 
masp, also supplied with a line of forts, which command Fort Lake 
with heavy guns. The Turkish army occupied an intrenched camp 
south-east of the city, protected at the extreme east by Fort Hafiz 
Pasha, facing the Kara Dagh forts on the opposite side of the road 
to Alexandropol. 

According to the local traditions, Kars was a city of some impor- 
tance and the capital of a province during the reign of Tiridates, King 
of Armenia a.d. 259. The citadel was built bv the Sultan Mu- 
rad III., of Turkey, in 1580, and was used by him in the wars with 
Persia, which resulted in the acquisition ten years later of Georgia 
and Tabriz. It was subjected to a formidable, but unsuccessful attack 



266 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



bj Xadir, Shah of Persia in 1795. The remains of the Shah's en- 
campment, which is said to have contained ninety thousand men, are 
still pointed out. The fortress was besieged by the Enssians in 1807, 
when it withstood three successive attacks, but was taken by storm 
by the Russians in 1828, to be given up again two years afterward 
on the conclusion of the peace of Airianople. 

The town was captiu-ed a second time by the Eussians dm^ing the 
Crimean war — in Xovember, 1854, after a siege of more than five 
months, in which the garrison, led by Gen. Williams, of the Biitish 
army, made one of the most desperate and brilliant defenses recorded 
in history. Even then, the fortifications proved superior to all the 
efforts of the Eussians to reduce them by force, and the suri-ender 
of the place was induced only by the complete exhaustion of its stores 
and the starvation of its defenders. The city was restored to the 
Turks upon the conclusion of the Treaty of Paris. A large part of 
the fortifications which have made the position so formidable were 
constructed by the English engineers at this time, hence the name 
'* Ingliz," or English, which is applied to some of the forts. 

Kars is less than thirty miles distant from Alexandropol, and its 
minarets are visible from that place. The little semicircle of coun- 
try included in the bend of the Kars Tchai and Arpa Tchai Elvers, 
which has for its diameter the line extending from Kars to Ani, de- 
serves a special study. It includes the greater number of the points 
which were covered by the operations of Gen. Melikoff's center, be- 
tween the time of the capture of Ardahan, May ITth, and the battle 
of the Aladja Dagh, October 15th, and which will be often men- 
tioned in the course of this history. A clear understanding of their 
relative positions will contribute much to the comprehension oi the 
different movements, particularly of the autumnal campaign. 

A reconnoitering force of Eussians under Major-General Shere- 
metieff was intercepted by a body of Turkish cavalry in the Yalley 
of Bardyk, on the 8th of May, and obliged to cut its way through. 
Shortly after this, the Eussian reconnoissances were extended to 
Kizil Kilissa, more than half-way from Kars to the Tm^kish position 
at Bardess. A hand-to-hand fight took place on the 16th of May 
between a Eussian detachment under Major-General Komaroff and 
a force of one thousand Turkish dragoons, in which the Turks were 
repulsed, leaving sixty-four dead on the field, the Eussians losing 
twenty-one killed and fifty- nine wounded. 

General Melikoff, lea^dng General Komaroff with a corps of 



THE RUSSIAN AD VANCE IN ARMENIA. 267 

observation before Kars, had marched on the 12th of May with the 
major part of his force to the support of General Dewell and the 
right wing in the operations against Ardahan, taking a position at 
Tchevorhan, nine miles south-east of the fortress. General Dewell 
had ah-eady attended to the erection of batteries for the attack, a 
work of no easy character, for the heights on which they had to be 
placed were all commanded by the guns of the Turkish forts. 
General Melikoff, having built a bridge across the river Kur during 
the night between the 15th and 16th, opened fire upon the fortifica- 
tions, the result of which was that all the Tm'kish guns were dis- 
mounted, their barracks were destroyed, and two of their outworks 
were captured. On the next day, May 17th, the fortress and town 
were captured by assault. General Melikoff, in his dispatch to the 
Grand Duke Michael, describing the character and extent of his 
victory, said : " The outworks of Ardahan, its fortifications, citadel, 
sixty guns, immense stores of provisions and ammunition, and the 
camp formerly occupied by fourteen lines of Turks, lie at the feet 
of the Czar. On May 17th the admirable fire of the artillery be- 
tween three and six o'clock in the afternoon made a breach in the 
walls. At six o'clock the Erivan, Tiflis, and Baku regiments 
and the sappers advanced to the assault. The enemy could not 
withstand the onslaught and fled, leaving a great number dead. At 
nine o'clock our troops traversed the whole town and fortifications, 
the band playing the IS'ational Anthem." 

The Russians reported their loss to be fifty-one killed and one 
hundred and eighty-four wounded. The loss of the Turks must 
have been very severe, as the Russian commander at Ardahan 
reported on the 21st of May that he had bm*ied 1,184 men and was 
not yet done. The inhabitants of the town placed it at 3,000 men. 
The Turks, who numbered 10,000 men, retreated in different direc- 
tions, a part of the garrison going toward Ardanutch, on the 
Tchorid^ River, on the road to Batum, and a part toward Olti, on 
the road to Erzerum. 

Hassan Sabri Pasha, the Turkish commander at Ardahan, was 
accused of having sold the place to the Russians for the sum of 
thirty thousand pounds sterling, and was arrested and held to trial. . 
The case was referred, with a number of others, to a court martial' 
which met at Constantinople on the 25th of August. 

The capture of Ardahan was attended with important advantages, 
to the Russians. With it the Turks lost their only fortress on the- 



268 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



river Kur, and one of the essential links in the line of communica- 
tion between their positions among the head-waters of the Kur 
and their coast-depot at Batum. Only through Ardahan could 
an expedition from Batum reach the flank of the Kussian columns 
advancing toward Erzerum. Since it had become a Russian fort, 
and the only crossing of the Kur was in Russian hands, the im- 
munity of the north flank of their columns was assured ; so that 
they would be able to employ more troops in the field, for a much 
smaller force would be needed to garrison the place than to besiege 
it. It gave them, moreover, a fortified point of support for the 
continued advance of their right wing toward Erzerum, besides 
furnishing them with a considerable number of guns, which the 
Turks had left in the works, available for siege operations against 
Kars. 

The pui-pose for which General Dewell's command had been 
organized as a separate column of the army of invasion was accom- 
plished by the capture of Ardahan. Its union with General 
Melikofi's center was the logical and necessary consequence of that 
success. The union having been completed, the operations against 
Erzerum were resumed by the combined force. General MeHkoff 
returned to his headquarters at Zaim, where he was joined by 
General Dewell with the columns of the former right wing, while 
Ardahan and its environs were held by Major-General Komaroff. 
A detachment of General Dewell's force was sent in pursuit of the 
Turkish troops which had retreated on the road to Batum, and went 
as far as Ardanutch, where they found the enemy lying in their 
front at Artvin. A body of cavalry, which was despatched upon 
the road to Erzerum, reached the neighborhood of 01 ti, about half 
way to the capital, without meeting resistance, but found that the 
enemy held that place. A sortie was made from the garrison of 
Kars on the 25th of May, which resulted in an engagement at 
Magardshich, with the Cossack division under General Melikofi. 
A part of the Cossacks dismounted and fought well on foot. The 
Turks were repulsed, leaving forty dead on the field, while the Rus- 
sians lost only one man killed and six wounded. 

On the 29th of May, General Melikoff, in making his final ar- 
rangements for the investment of Kars, arrived at Hadji Kalil, 
nine miles south-east of the city. Here he learned that a body of 
four thousand Circassian cavalry, under Moussa Pasha, had come 
down the Soghanli and had encamped at Beg Mahmed, about nine 



THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE IN ARMENIA. 



miles soutli-west of Kars. A surprise was planned against them, to 
be executed during the night. A division of cavalry, a regiment of 
foot, and sixteen guns were sent forward under Prince Tchavtchavadzo 
to Ardost. The enemy was attacked in his bivouac from three 
sides soon after midnight, and after a long conflict was put to flight. 
The Russians lost seven killed and thirty wounded, while the Cir- 
cassians left on the fleld eighty- three dead and several trophies — 
guns, ammunition wagons, and standards — which fell into the hands 
of the Russians. This victory was regarded by the Russians as of 
considerable importance, inasmuch as it was a decisive repulse of 
the first offensive efl'orts of the Turks, and in effect destroyed the 
best part of the Turkish cavalry, which was already dispropor- 
tionately weak. The Turks reported that the whole force was 
slaughtered, but this was an exaggeration, as most of the horsemen 
escaped. But it was not entirely false, for the body was really 
destroyed as a soldiery. According to subsequent reports from 
Erzerum, very few of the men returned to service, by far the 
greater part of them being scattered in flight or going back to their 
homes. Olti was occupied without resistance on the 8th of June. 

On the 8th of May Lieutenant-General Tergukassoff, with the 
left wing of the Russian army of advance, or the Erivan column, as 
it was called, occupied Diadin, a town of seven thousand male in- 
habitants, mostly Mohammedan Kurds, about sixty miles west of 
Bayazid, and on the 11th he reached the Armenian cloister of Surp 
Ohanes, or St. Johannes, where he established a station of sup- 
plies and of support for his advance, which was sent out toward 
Kara Kilissa, at the crossing of the eastern branch of the Euphrates 
by the caravan road. A number of guerrilla bands of Kurds and 
Bashi-Bazouks had been assembled at Lake Yan to harass the rear 
and flanks of the Russian force, and an expedition of cavalry was 
dispatched to suppress them. It penetrated to the lake and scat- 
tered the bands, one of the divisions having encountered a band at 
Ardish, on the north shore of the lake itself. 

On the 4th of June General Tergukassoff advanced to Kara 
Kilissa, the Turks having fallen back to the mountain-pass of 
Toprak Kaleh, On the lOtli, he occupied Zeidekan, about eighty 
miles east of Erzerum, and the Turks retired to Koprikoi, about 
forty miles toward Erzerum. 



CHAPTEE lY. 



THE RUSSIAN REVERSE IN ARMENIA. 

The Situation in Armenia at the middle of June — Battle of Zeidekan — An unexpected 
change in the Fortunes of War— Defeat of General Tergukassoff at Delibaba and of 
General MelikofS at Zewin— Ketreat of the Russians — General Tergukassofl reaches 
Igdir, and marches to the relief of the Russian garrison at Bayazid. — Horrible condi- 
tion of that place — The Siege of Kars abandoned — The Russians again in Russian 
Territor}'. 

So far the advance of the Kussians had been attended with unin- 
terrupted success. Tt had not been rapid, for it had been unpeded 
by the nature of the country, and by the necessity of taking or 
neutralizing the fortresses of Ardahan and Kai's. The invading 
army, moreover, lacked a sufficiency of numbers to make it as effi- 
cient as it should be in marching into a hostile country. A consider- 
able part of the force had to be detached to man the supporting 
posts along the lines of communication, to garrison Ardahan, and 
to maintain the investment of Kars, leaving the body which was 
destined to operate in the field none too large to cope with the Turk- 
ish army. Nevertheless, the Eussian front had been pushed forward 
to near Kara Kilissa and Olti, beyond Kars. Cossack scouts had pene- 
trated to Ispir, far beyond Olti and north-west of Erzerum, where 
their presence suggested danger to the communications between 
Erzerum and its supply-post of Trebizond, and the Eussian hues of 
communication were well kept up. The Turks had been expected 
to make a desperate defense in the Soghanli Dagh, but so far had 
steadily retreated as the Eussians moved forward. Their line had 
been drawn back from Ardahan, Kars, and Bayazid, to Olti, Zewin, 
and Kara Kilissa, and in the first days of June the headquarters of the 
center had been retired to Koprikoi, about forty miles east of Er- 
zerum, the point of union of the roads leading from Kars through 
the Soghanli with the caravan road from Bayazid, while the left 
wing was stationed near Kisil Kilissa, and the right wing occupied 
the passes of Delibaba and Toprak Kaleh as its extreme outposts. 
Military critics thought that a speedy collapse of the Turkish resist- 
ance was assured, and it was generally and confidently expected that 
the campaign would result in the whole of Armenia falling into the 



THE RUSSIAN REVERSE IN ARMENIA. 



hands of the Russians. The Russians anticipated this as the end of 
their advance, for they went prepared to organize civil administration 
in the conquered territory, and had actually established governments 
intended to be permanent in the districts which they had gained. 

Mukhtar Pasha, finding that the Russians were not in great force 
at Olti, pushed forward his troops against their position there, in 
such a manner as to threaten to cut off the advanced guard of the 
right wing from the main body. The Russians, to avoid such a dis- 
aster, retreated to Pennek, and Olti was again occupied by the 
Turks on the 9th of June. The Russians concentrated their forces 
in greater strength around Kars, and the bombardment was for a 
few days conducted with extraordinary vigor. 

Encouraged by his success at Olti, the Turkish Commander-in- 
chief ordered up three more battalions and six hundred cavalry to 
strengthen Mohammed Pasha at Delibaba, and ordered Mohammed, 
with seventeen battalions, two field batteries and one mountain bat- 
tery, to drive the Russians of the left wing out of Zeidekan. These 
orders were carelessly executed, so that Mohammed Pasha reached the 
place of attack with less than his full force, to find the Russians 
prepared to attack him. The Russians were in a strong position on 
the heights of Tahir, above Zeidekan, having between them and the 
Turkish front a high ridge completely commanding the Turkish 
position, which was skirted by a deep ravine. This ridge and ravine 
afforded important points of advantage, the possession of which 
proved to be the turning point of the engagement. The Turks 
could have occupied them at the beginning of the battle, but Mo- 
hammed Pasha was convinced that the Russians were in small force, 
and neglected to improve his opportunities. Artillery skirmishes 
took place between the two armies on the 15th of June. The attack 
was opened by the Russians at five o'clock on the morning of June 
16th, with a fire which increased in vigor and accuracy as the hours 
advanced, and which was received by the Turkish soldiers with 
steadiness and rephed to with gallantry. At a quarter past nine the 
Russians, notwithstanding the brave resistance of the Turks, had by 
their overwhelming force of artillery, driven the Turkish guns' out 
of action. By noon they were in possession of the ridge held by 
the Ottoman troops and of every gun they had, had turned their 
position and got around to their rear, and the Turkish army was 
routed. The Russians followed up the Turkish infantry, who had 
exhausted their ammunition, to the pass of Delibaba, capturing 



274 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



about one thousand prisoners, while another body of cavaliy, with 
horse artillery, moving around by another road, effectually prevented 
all communication between Mukhtar Pasha and the remnants of the 
right wing, and captured a battalion and battery of Turks which 
were encamped on one of the streams. 

The arrangements of the Turkish forces were, according to the 
correspondent of the London Times, faulty in the extreme. The 
army was suffering from an insufficiency of rations and a lack of 
supplies ; was without medical staff or hospital arrangements, and 
was scantily furnished with ammunition. The officers were in- 
competent and careless, and despised the enemy, Mohammed Pasha, 
it is said, believing that the Russians would not dare to attack him. 
On the other hand, the same correspondent speaks in the highest 
terms of the bearing of the Turkish rank and ffLe. " Untrained men," 
he says, " ignorant of the use of their weapons, and for the most 
part agriculturists, fresh from the plough, they were yet unused to 
the hard school of war. Cold and hangry, badly clad and badly 
shod, uncared-for and unnoticed, they stood their ground right 
nobly under a murderous fire from the sixteen sixteen-pounder Pus- 
sian guns playing on their front under a hailstorm of rifle bullets 
from the battalions that had tmTied theu' flank, and it was not until 
their ammunition had failed, and the Cossacks were riding them 

down, that they turned and broke The rank and file of the 

Turkish army are men of whom any nation might be proud." The 
Turkish loss is not stated. It was very heavy, and was aggravated 
by the disorder into which the whole line was thrown on its ffight. 

The Turks retreated to Delibaba, and the Pussians took posses- 
sion of the pass through which they had retired, and fortified it. 
Mukhtar Pasha telegraphed to Pashid Pasha, of his left wing, which 
was occupying the Olti road, to join him with nine of the twelve 
battalions forming that wing. He quitted his headquarters at Zewin 
on the night of the ITth, for Delibaba, to take command of the right 
wing in Perun. On the following day he received reinforcements 
by the arrival of Chalim Pasha, which raised the strength of his 
force to nineteen battalions, four cavalry regiments, and three bat- 
teries. The Pussians, under General Tergukassoff, in the Delibaba 
Pass, who had been reinforced from the center, numbered 20,000 
men, with five batteries. On the 20th the Turks began to move 
forward, and cavalry skirmishing between the outposts took place at 
Xhaliage, near the entrance to the pass. On the 21st, Mukhtar 



THE RUSSIAN REVERSE IN ARMENIA. 



275 



Paslia gave battle in the pass itself. The attack was begun at six 
o'clock in the morning, and the fighting lasted, with varying for- 
tune, till eight o'clock in the evening, when the Turks bivouacked 
in positions slightly in advance of those held by them on the previous 
day. The Turkish commander at first dislodged the Russians from 
their positions, but they returned and drove away their assailants. 
Several charges of Eussian infantry and cavalry followed, by which 
the Turkish front was, for a time, staggered, but the Turks finally 
rallied, and compelled the Russians to fall back with heavy loss. 

The correspondent of the London Standa/rd^ who was with the 
Turkish army, gives the following graphic account of this day's en- 
gagement : 

" On the morning of the 21st of June the battle began with an 
artillery fire on both sides, but soon Mukhtar Pasha proceeded to 
the attack. The battalions from Erzerum and Erzengan, who 
counted many a gray head among their ranks, had the distinction 
granted to them of opening the attack. With indescribable heroism, 
though scarcely 1,400 strong, they advanced up the heights occupied 
by the Russians. Exposed to a perfect hailstorm of shells and 
musketry from the front and right fiank of the enemy, they suffered 
frightful losses, but never for one moment wavered. Soon, how- 
ever, it was perceived that the positions of the Turkish guns were 
very unfavorable for replying to the Russian cannon, and that they 
afforded a very insufficient protection against the enemy's fire directed 
toward the right flank. The two battalions which had suffered so 
severely were, therefore, withdrawn, while Mukhtar Pasha himself 
sought out fresh positions for the guns and superintended their 
transport. A brisk attack of cavalry, led by Shamyl Pasha, in the 
valley of the brook, covered the movements of the infantry and 
artillery. The latter, from their new positions, kept up a more 
effective fire than hitherto ; they soon dismounted a Russian gun 
and covered a fresh attack of the infantry. Visibly the Turkish 
lines advanced, when suddenly the Russians rushed down from their 
mountains and again and again tried to storm the Turkish position. 
One after the other their attacks were repulsed ; the Turks aimed 
splendidly, and the ranks of the storming parties were rapidly 
thinned. While this was going on, the cavalry regiments on both 
sides fought with varying success. At length night put an end to 
the combat. It was a fearful night. The number of the wounded 
on the Turkish side was very great, and of ambulances, etc., there 



2/6 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



were next to none. An icy wind swept over the plateau ; the men 
had nothing to eat ; for many miles around there was not a tree or a 
shrub that might seiwe as fuel ; and, what was worst of all, the artil- 
lery, which had, it is true, been almost constantly at work, com- 
plained of a waat of ammunition. Xot without anxiety did the 
Marshal, as he told me himseK only a few hours ago, look forward 
to the morrow." 

The battle was renewed on the next day with an atta<;k by Mukh- 
tar Pasha upon the Russians, who still occupied the eastern end of 
the pass. The Russians replied with a violent attack, which was re- 
pulsed with gi-eat difficulty; but the battle soon tamed against 
them, and by the close of the day they had been driven from their 
positions, and were in full retreat. The Turks pursued them as far 
as Zeidekan, and thus regained all the positions which they had lost 
in the battle of the 16th at that place. The fighting on the two 
days lasted thirty-three hours, and cost the Turks 2,500 killed and 
wounded, and the Russians a much larger number. According to 
the correspondent of the London Standard^ the Turkish force 
actually participating in this battle numbered only six thousand 
men. 

Gen. Tergukassoff telegraphed respecting this engagement, that the 
Russian column under his command " was attacked on the 21st near 
Daiare by the Turks with twenty battalions, twelve guns, and 4,500 
horse. The fighting lasted ten hours, and the Turks were eventually 
repulsed, but the Russian losses were very considerable. The Russian 
troops fought on a line of five versts with great gallantry against 
overwhelming numbers. The Russian artillery was admirably 
served. On the following day some skirmishes occurred, and 
subsequently the Turks were allowed to collect the corpses of the 
men in the Russian positions." 

Gen. Heimann was despatched from the center to support Gen. 
Tergukassoff and efiect a junction with him if that were practicable ; 
and on the 20th of June, Gen. Melikoff left his camp at Mazra, be- 
fore Ears, to follow him. The intention was to release General 
Tergukassoff from his embarrassing position, infiict defeat upon 
Mukhtar Pasha, and advance upon Erzerum if possible. General 
Melikoff having overtaken Gen. Heimann, it was determined to 
make a movement of the cavaby on the light flank of the enemy, 
while the infantry should push along to Zewin. 

On the 25th of June, Gen. Melikofi, with the Russian center 



THE RUSSIAN REVERSE IN ARMENIA, 



2/7 



attacked the Turkish camp at Zewin. This position was very 
strongly posted among the mountains of the Soghanli Dagh, near 
the point where the road from Erzerum to Kars crosses that range. 
It was surrounded by high mountains, and itself occupied a lower 
mountain, on the summit of which was a redoubt armed with four 
Xrupp guns which formed its center. The Turkish force, of seven 
thousand infantry, supported by two cannon, was posted in sheltered 
trenches around the redoubt, and their reserves, three thousand men 
with two guns, were stationed on the higher mountains back of the 
camp. They were commanded by Ismail Pasha, the Kurd, Gov- 
ernor of Erzerum, assisted by Feizi Pasha. The Russians, with ten 
battalions of infantry and twenty-one guns, had taken a position dur- 
ing the night of thie 24th on the mountain opposite the camp, which 
was higher and less steep than the one in its rear. 

The battle began with a skirmish of cavalry, after which the Rus- 
sian batteries opened fire upon the Turkish redoubt and its supporting 
infantiy. " Fifteen Russian guns," says the correspondent of the Lon- 
don Standard, " fired incessantly at the little redoubt armed with f our 
cannon, which commanded the whole field of battle from its excellent 
position, and within an hour over fifty shells fell in the redoubt, but 
the men never flinched for a moment." The Turkish fire, he adds, 
was quite equal to the Russians', at least four times superior to them in 
numbers ; " and the artillery fight had absolutely no result." Soon 
after noon the Russians made an attempt to storm the redoubt. Their 
infantry were sent forward to climb the mountain under cover of an 
incessant fire from their batteries. The ascent was extremely steep. 
The Russians were met by an accurate fire from the redoubt and 
the Turkish infantry, which thinned their ranks fearfully, but 
steadily reinforced, they pressed on, returning to the advance 
after each successive repulse. At last their attacks on the center 
were slackened. An effort was made ao^ainst the Turkish rio:ht 
wing, but it was continued but a little while, and by nightfall the 
Russians were in retreat. 

The Russian official telegrams gave the following account of this 
engagement : 

" On the 25th of June Gen. Loris Melikoff attacked the Turks in 
their fortified camp at Zewin, the fight lasting from two o'clock 
P.M. till night. Our troops dislodged the enemy from his advanced 
position, but to avoid the fire of the Turkish forts, returned to their 
own positions in the night. The valor of our troops was truly 



2/8 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



heroic ; owing, however, to our numerical inferiority, we have suf- 
fered considerable loss. The enemy had twenty-three battalions in 
a strongly fortified position. We had three ofiicers killed, twenty- 
four ofiicers wounded, and 850 soldiers disabled." 

The nominal commander of the Turkish forces, Kurd Ismail 
Pasha, took no active part in the engagement, but spent his time in 
his tent praying, while the operations which led to decisive victory 
were directed by his second, or assistant in command, General Kohl- 
man, chief of staff to Mukhtar Pasha, a Hungarian officer, who was 
called Feizy Pasha by the Turks. Not only," says the correspond- 
ent of the London Times, " did this gallant old officer superintend 
all arrangements, personally visiting every battalion and shelter- 
trench, but once or twice early in the day, when the Pussians, press- 
ing close up to the intrench ments, caused the Turks to waver, in one 
instance, indeed, to retire somewhat rapidly, he led them himself 
forward, revived their drooping spirits, inspired them with fresh 
courage, and so won the day for his adopted Government." The 
Pussian forces, after the battle of Zewin, retreated to their camp be- 
fore Kars. 

The battles of Delibaba and Zewin, in which the Pussian left and 
center successively suffered defeat, were decisive of the fate of the 
campaign in Armenia. The Pussian s made no further attempts at 
offensive operations, but devoted their attention to protecting their 
forces against further disaster, and withdrawing them to safer posi- 
tions. Their failure was ascribed to the division of the force into 
too many bodies, neither of which was sufficient for effective opera- 
tions, while all were exposed to the attack and defeat in detail which 
actually took place. Had not the Turks been nearly as weak as they 
were, they would have been now in a perilous position, and in dan- 
ger of being cut up by attacks upon their flanks and rear. As it 
was, the Turks were in no condition to pursue them, and their armies, 
with the exception of the garrison at Bayazid, succeeded in retiring 
without suffering material damage. 

The Pussian official dispatches gave the following explanations of 
their defeats : " General Loris Melikoff having reached the Araxes * 
"Valley by way of Kars and Kagisman, was marching west in the di- 
rection of Erzerum, when the Turks occupying the fortified posi- 
tion of Zewin menaced his right flank. To prevent an attack in 
front and rear. General Melikoff, before proceeding further west, had 
to turn north and attack Zewin. The attempt failed, and General 



THE RUSSIAN REVERSE IN ARMENIA, 



281 



Melikoff fell back to the Araxes Y alley, wliere he heard that the 
southern column under Lieutenant- General Tergukassoff, which was 
to have met him there previous to the joint march on Erzerum, was 
likewise defeated near Delibaba, and had retreated. Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral Tergukassoff is seemingly determined to retrace his steps to the 
frontier and rescue Bayazid, while General Melikoff, according to the 
latest intelligence, intended to take up a position in the Araxes Val- 
ley and hold the road to Kars against the victorious force from 
Zewin." 

The Grand Duke Michael arrived at Kars in the beginning of 
June, and established his headquarters with the investing force. 
The Russian camp before this fortress was situated north of the city, 
and on the east side of the Kars Tchai River, occupying a series of 
hills lying between Kars and Marza, about six or seven miles dis- 
tant. The headquarters of the Grand Duke's staff were in advance, 
near the summit of a hill, at an elevation of six thousand feet above 
the level of the sea, from which every movement could be watched. 
Opposite the camp were two groups of lofty hills, separated by a 
deep gorge through which the river flows, and surmounted by three 
of the principal Turkish fortresses. Fort Arab in the center. Fort 
Kara Dagh at the left, and Fort Muklilis at the right, on the oppo- 
site side of the gorge of the river. On the left of the town which 
lay behind Kara Dagh, was another fort, Hafiz Pasha, on low ground. 
On the left of the whole fortress a plain extended as far as the mount- 
ains, nearly two miles from the town. The grassy plain around the 
town was diversified by knolls, which afforded excellent positions 
for the Russian batteries and the concealment of troops. The Rus- 
sians had seventy-four guns and mortars in position, the nearest of 
which were two miles from the fort. Of all the forts. Fort Arab 
and Fort Kara Dagh were the most formidable, and it was against 
these two that the Russian fire was chiefly directed. The siege afforded 
but few scenes of especial interest. The same events were repeated 
day after day, consisting of the opening of the fire by the Russians 
at five or six o'clock in the morning, the response by the Turks after 
a few hours, after wdiich the cannonading was incessant till night 
put an end to the day's work. The Russians fired the more frequent- 
ly, but the firing of the Turks was very accurate. "There is no> 
doubt," said a newspaper correspondent who was in the Russian 
camp, " that the Turks have splendid guns, and that they know how:- 
to direct them." 

15 



282 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The Eussians made several attempts to cany particular positions 
by storm, which were always repulsed, and the garrison made sorties 
which were without result till Sunday, July 18th, when, the Eus- 
sians having been weakened and partly disorganized by their recent 
defeats at Delibaba and Ze^dn, they reopened communications with 
Mulihtar Pasha. On the 4:th of July, General Melikoff announced 
in a dispatch issued at Alexandropol that the siege of Kars had been 
suspended in order to place the besieging troops in a position to 
move with greater readiness against Mukhtar Pasha's advance, 
which had been pushed to within twenty miles of the city ; that the 
siege artillery had been sent to Kuinik Dara and Alexandropol ; the 
greater part of the cavalry had been concentrated at Chalifaghlie 
to protect communications, and the infantry had been stationed 
at Zaim . 

On the following Sunday, July 8th, the Turkish force having 
been advanced to Wahiran Kaleh, eight miles south of Kars, 
Mukhtar Pasha, accompanied by Sir Arnold Kemball, the Com. 
missioner of Observation appointed by the British Government to 
accompany the Turkish army, rode into the city and went over the 
batteries at Kara Dagh Tabia, where the bombardment had been 
heaviest, without being molested. The Pussian headquarters were 
then at Zaim. 

General Tergukassoff, after having been defeated in the battle of 
Delibaba, withdrew his forces in good order and began a retreat 
toward the Russian frontier. He was continuously followed by 
Ismail Pasha, and threatened on his left by Faik Pasha, who had 
collected a host of Kurds for the investment of the Russian garrison 
at Bayazid, but neither officer made any serious efforts to intercept 
his movement. An attack was made upon him at Kara Kilissa, 
and one of more importance at Ipek, which, however, had no effect 
in disarranging his plans. He afterward turned suddenly from the 
direct road, quite throwing his antagonists at bay, and proceeded to 
Igdir, in the Russian territory north of Bayazid. His march was 
delayed by the crowd of Christian fugitives who sought his protec- 
tion flying from the Bashi-Bazouks and Kurds, who were swarm- 
ing through the districts occupied by the Russians, and committing 
their characteristic outrages. Yet his movements were so rapid 
that the possibility of his arrival at Igdir at the time he was reported 
to have reached that place was doubted until a confirmatory dis- 
patch was received. His stay at Igdir was short, for he only waited 



THE RUSSIAN REVERSE IN ARMENIA, 283 

long enough to lay in stores of provisions and war materials, and 
hastened away to relieve the Russian garrison at Bayazid, which was 
already beleaguered by a horde of 13,000 Turks and Kurds, and was 
in destitution and disti*ess. Bayazid had been captured from the 
Turks at the beginning of the campaign, and had been left in charge 
of a garrison, while General Tergukassoff advanced with the main 
part of his column toward Erzerum. It was exposed to incursions 
from the Kurds, who were swarming around Lake Yan, and the 
garrison had been cut off from the main army for about a month. 
On the 19th of June, a part of the garrison, consisting of two bat- 
talions and about one thousand Cossacks, moved out of the post and 
were attacked and defeated by the Turks. The Cossack cavalry, who 
attempted to coyer the retreat, were surrounded and compelled to sur- 
render, after which, a dispute arising between some of the Cossacks 
and the Kurds, they were massacred. The Turks held possession of 
the town, while the garrison were confined to the citadel. Their situa- 
tion was painful in the extreme. The defenses of the fort were 
weak, the stores of provisions were nearly exhausted, and the men 
were worn out by the constant watchfulness and efforts which they 
were obliged to exert to avoid surprise by their powerful foe ; worst 
of all, there was no water inside of the citadel, and they were 
obliged to fetch it from outside the works in the face of the enemy. 
General Tergukassoff, making a march of remarkable speed, reached 
Bayazid on the 9th of July. After a cannonade of several hours, 
the Russians made a fierce onslaught, advancing their whole line 
with a well-directed and sustained fire, under which the Turks were 
compelled to fall back. As soon as the regulars yielded, the Kurds 
broke and fled in every direction, and the Russians marched into 
the town. Several prisoners, four cannon, and a large quantity of 
ammunition and prov^isions were captured. The town was in ruins, 
and the atmosphere was so infected from dead bodies in a state of 
decomposition — " a testimony of Turkish atrocities," the Russian 
commander alleged — that he considered it impossible to prolong the 
sojourn of his troops there. The garrison were in a deplorable con- 
dition, and physically unable to fight. The Turks were receiving 
reinforcements, and General Tergukassoff -wished to complete the 
movemen" to join the main body of troops at Zaim ; therefore, hav- 
ing secured the safety of the garrison, he evacuated the citadel, and 
it was immediately occupied by the Turks. 

The statements of General Tergukassoff as to the condition in 



284 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



which he found the town are confirmed by the testimony of two 
British officers who visited the place after it was restored to the 
Turks. They represented that the whole town was in ruins, and 
filled with the bodies of Christian citizens whom the Turks had 
ruthlessly slaughtered, and that the E-ussian soldiers were employed 
for six days in burying the dead citizens. 

The gallantry of General Tergukassoff was warmly commended 
by the correspondent of the London Times ^ who was with the Turk- 
ish army, who pronounced him the only Russian who had " shown 
any pretension to generalship." This writer characterized the man- 
ner in which he had handled his troops at Tahir, or Zeidekan, the 
stubborn resistance which he had offered at Delibaba, the in- 
cidents of his conduct during his retreat, and " finally his dashing 
flank march from Igdir to Bayazid, and the relief of that place in 
front of two Turkish corps, both superior to him in numbers," as 
stamping him as a general of the first class. 



CHAPTEK Y. 



THE BATTLES AEOUND PLEYI^A. 

Change in the Fortunes of the Russians — Removal of Abdiil Kerim — Appointment of 
Mehemet Ali to the Supreme Command — Plevna, its Situation — Arrival of Osman 
Pasha— Battle of July 19th— Defeat of the Russians— Osman Captures Lovatz— Battle 
of Karahunar — Retreat of General Gourko — Battle of Eski Sagra — Second Defeat of 
the Russians at Plevna, July 31st — Retreat of the Russians from the Lom — Opera- 
tions in the Dobrudja — Bombardment of Kustendje — Struggles in the Shipka Pass — 
Battle of Karasan — Repulse of a Turkish Attack on Pelisat — Skobelelf Recaptures 
Lovatz — Battle of Kechlova — Third Defeat of the Russians before Plevna — Capture 
of the Grivitza Redoubt — Bravery of the Rumanian Troops. 

Otjr last chapter on the operations in Europe left General Gonrko 
across the Balkans, and the Kussians in possession of IsTicopolis. 
Hitherto, all had gone most prosperously with the Russians. Their 
advance had been pushed without meeting any resistance that could 
delay or embarrass their movements, and it seemed very probable 
that they would soon have all of Bulgaria north of the Balkans in 
their possession. A sudden change now took place in their for- 
tunes, in consequence of which they were compelled to withdraw 
from much of the country they had won, and to begin over again 
the hard work of the campaign. 

At about this time, Abdul Kerim was removed from the com- 
mand of the Turkish forces and sent to Constantinople to be 
courtmartialed, and Mehemet Ali, who had been transferred from 
Montenegro to the Danube, was appointed commander in his place. 
Osman Pasha, finding that he was too late to accomplish anything 
upon the Danube against the overwhelming numbers of the enemy, 
and judging that the Russians would attempt to follow the road 
leading from Sistova, Rustchuk, and Biela, toward Sophia, changed 
the direction of his march to one leading south-eastward, and taking 
with him the troops he had gathered from Widin and JSTissa, occu- 
pied Plevna. 

This point, which was destined henceforth to play a part of 
paramount importance in the campaign, had not before been recog- 
nized as possessing anv great strategical advantages. Plevna was 

(285) 



286 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



an open town of about eighteen thousand inhabitants, principally 
Bulgarians, situated on the southern side of the Grivitza Eiyer, 
one of the affluents of the Yid, a little less than four miles from the 
junction of the two streams. It is traversed by a small stream 
which, coming down from Bogot in the south, empties here into the 
Grivitza. Lying low in the valley, it is surrounded by a hilly, fer- 
tile, well-tilled district, with vineyards and cornfields on the ridges, 
and is an important market town for the region. Its location and 
the relations of its roads made it a point at which troops could be 
easily concentrated, which was what the Turks needed at this time 
in this part of their field of operations. From Plevna roads diverge 
in all directions, to Sistova and Kustchuk, to I^icopolis, to Biela, to 
Lovatz, to Sophia. The main road from Sistova to Sophia runs 
through the town and over one of the ridges to the east of it ; and 
herein lay the strategical advantage of the place at this moment. 
Whoever held it in force commanded the flank of the Russian army, 
and was able to block their onward march. Osman Pasha, having 
occupied the place, and perceived its peculiar advantages in the 
present situation, immediately began to concentrate in it all the 
troops within his control, and to surround it with a system of strong 
works. The wisdom of his operation was justified by the fact that 
he had the main force of the Russian army engaged before Plevna 
for several months, and that however successful they might be else- 
where, they could make no permanent impression upon the integrity 
of the Turkish defense until they had carried this position. 

The Russians, under Gen. Shilder-Shuldner, of Baron Krtidener's 
coi-ps, entered Plevna on the 19th of July, with the intention of 
driving the Turks out. The Russian general was negligent as to 
his precautions. He grossly underestimated the strength of the 
Turks, and having let his corps be weakened by sending one detach- 
ment to protect the bridge at Simnitza and another to transport the 
provisions taken at E'icopolis, and havdng left a garrison in that city, 
he set out with the remainder to attack Osman in his selected strong- 
hold. Owing to the character of the topography of the place, the 
Russians were not able to perceive the full strength of the Turkish 
position until they were almost upon it. Consequently, they were 
surprised and thrown back with a heavy loss, given, according to the 
most careful estimates, at sixty-six ofiicers and 2,771 men killed, 
wounded, or taken prisoners, or more than one-third of the whole 



THE BATTLES AROUND PLEVNA. 



287 



force. Reinforcements came to the Russians on the next day^ but 
their officers would not risk a renewal of the attack. 

After this defeat it was necessary to strengthen Lovatz. It was 
done, but not sufficiently, for on July 26th Osman Pasha drove the 
Russians from the place after a severe fight. At the same time, 
Baron Kriidener improved his own position considerably by with- 
drawing the garrison of Nicopolis, who were replaced by a Rumanian 
division under General Manu, the first Rumanian troops to cross the 
river, while he also received considerable reinforcements from the 
main army. 

South of the Balkans, Suleiman Pasha, who had arrived from 
Montenegro with the greater part of his army, effected a junction 
with Rauf Pasha, and was appointed Commander-in-chief of the 
army of Rumeli'a, with 60,000 men under his command. On July 
26th he was encountered by Gen. Gourko at Karabunar, south-west 
of Yeni Sagra, and having been defeated, retreated upon Adrian- 
ople. After the Russian disasters at Plevna, it was, however, 
deemed important that Gen. Gourko should secure the passes held 
by him, and for this purpose he was ordered back. He immediately 
retired to the Shipka Pass, followed closely by Suleiman Pasha, who 
inflicted a defeat upon him at Eski Sagra, on July 31st. 

On July 30th, General Kriidener, by order of the Grand Duke 
commanding, again attacked Plevna. His force, which had been 
doubled since his recent defeat, consisted of four infantry divisions, 
three cavalry brigades, and lYO guns, composed of his own, the N^inth 
army corps, with the exception of the ITineteenth infantry regiment, 
v%'hich had been sent to !Nicopolis as garrison, the Thirtieth infantry 
division of the Fourth army corps, the Thirty-second infantry divis- 
ion, with four squadrons of cavalry of the Eleventh coi'ps, and the 
biigade of Caucasian Cossacks of Gen. Skobeleff*. Grand Duke 
Nicholas had, on July 21st, ordered the Thirtieth di^dsion of the 
Fourth corps, which had just crossed the Danube, to march to Plevna 
instead of to Tirnova, and to be placed at the disposal of General 
Kriidener. The Eleventh army corps, which was said to have 
reached Osman Bazar, and in that case would have formed the right 
wing of the army operating against Rasgrad-Shumla, was also 
ordered to send at once the Thirty-second di^nision with four 
squadrons of cavalry to the Osma, to form the left wing of the force 
operating against Plevna. Prince Shachovsky, the commander of 



288 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



the corps, led this column in person, and reached the Osma after 
a six days' march. General Kriidener, to whom the chief command 
of the operations against Plevna had heen entrusted, had originally 
concentrated his own corps at Bryslam, between Plevna and J^^icop- 
olis, and had afterward moved almost the entire corps to the south, 
taking a position up the road from Biela to Plevna, with his head- 
quarters at Tirstenik, about eighteen miles east of Plevna, leaving 
only one brigade of the !Ninth cavalry division, with some mounted 
batteries, at Bryslam to secure his right flank and the road to JSTicop- 
' olis. The Daily News correspondent described the battle as fol- 
lows : 

" The night between the 30th and 31st was very wet, and troops 
did not begin to march forward before six, instead of four. The 
number of infantry combatants was actually about 32,000, with 160 
field cannon and three brigades of cavalry. Baron Kriidener was 
on the right with the whole of the Thirty-first division in his fight- 
ing line, and three regiments of the Fifth division in reserve at 
Karajac Burgarsky. He was to attack in two columns, a brigade in 
each. On the left was Shachovsky, with a brigade of the Thirty- 
second division and a brigade of the Thirtieth division in fighting 
line. Another brigade of the Thirtieth division was in reserve at 
Pelisat. The Turkish position was convex, somewhat in horse-shoe 
shape, but more pointed. Baron Kriidener was to attack the Turkish 
left flank from Grivitza toward the river Yid. Shachovsky was 
to assail their right from Eadisevo, also toward the river Yid. On 
the left flank of the attack stood Skobeleff, with a brigade of Cos- 
sacks, a battalion of infantry, and a battery, to cope with the Turkish 
troops on the line from Plevna to Lovatz, and hindering them from 
interfering with the development of Shachovsky's attack. On the 
right flank stood Lascarofl, with two cavaliy regiments to guard 
Kriidener from a counter attack. The morning was gloomy, which 
the Russians regarded as a favorable omen. The troops cheered 
vigorously as they passed the G-eneral. Physically, there are no 
finer men in the world. In the pink of hard condition, and march- 
ing without packs, carrying only great-coat, haversack with rations, 
and ammunition, they seemed fit to go anywhere or do anything. 
Shachovsky's right column marched over Pelisat and Sgalievica. The 
left column headed straight for Padisevo. The artillery pushed 
forward from the first, and worked independently. Marching for- 
ward, we found the cavalry foreposts on the sky line above Pelisat, 




ABDUL KERIM. 



GENERAL SKOBELEFF. 



THE BATTLES AROUND PLEVNA, 



291 



and on the sloping downs the infantry deployed as they advanced, 
as the Knssian practice is on open ground. The formation was in 
column of double companies, with rifle companies in front of each 
battalion. Kriidener, on the right, opened the action at 9 : 30, 
bringing a battery into fire from the ridge on the Turkish earthwork 
above the village. At first it seemed as if the Turks were surprised. 
It was some time ere they replied, but then they did so vigorously, 
and gave quite as good as they got from Kriidener. The objective 
of Prince Shachovsky, with whom I rode, was, in the first instance, 
Radisevo, and it behoved us, therefore, to bear away to the left. 
The village of Radisevo lies in a deep valley behind the southern 
wave or ridge of the Turkish position, and there is another ridge 
behind this valley. On that ridge our cannon, placed by Col. 
Bishovsky, chief of Prince Shachovsky's staff, was firing in line on 
the Turkish guns on the ridge beyond the valley with fine effect. 
The infantry went down into the valley under this covering fire, and 
I accompanied the column. We carried Radisevo with a trivial 
skirmish, for in the village there was only a handful of Bashi- 
Bazouks, who, standing their ground, were promptly bayonetted. 
The infantry remained under cover of the village. I returned up 
the slope to our batteries. These, firing with great rapidity and 
accuracy, soon compelled the Turkish cannon to quit the opposite 
height. During the last spurt of their firing, Prince Shachovsky 
rode along the rear of our batteries from the right to the left, under 
a fire which killed two horses in our little group. Our cannon, 
playing on the Turkish guns on the opposite ridge, quelled their fire 
after about half an hour's cannonade, and it was then for our bat- 
teries to cross the valley passing through Radisevo and come into 
action in the position vacated by the Turkish guns ; and following 
them, our infantry also descended into the hollow, and lay down in 
the glades about the village and on the steep slope behind our guns 
in action." 

The second period of the battle commenced at 2 : 30 : 
" Two brigades of infantry were in the Radisevo Yalley, behind 
the guns of Gen. Tcherkoff's brigade — the Thirty-second division on 
the right, the First brigade of the Thirtieth division on the left. The 
leading battalions were ordered to rise up and advance over the 
ridge to attack. The order was hailed with glad cheers, for the in- 
fantrymen had been chafing at their inaction, and the battalions, 
with a swift, swinging step, streamed forward through the glen and 



292 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



up the steep slope behind, inarching in company cohimns, the rifle 
companies leading. The artillery had heralded this movement with 
increased rapidity of fire, which was maintained to cover and aid the ' 
infantrymen when the latter had crossed the crest and were descend- 
ing the slope and crossing the intervening valley to the assault of 
the Turkish position. Just before reaching the crest, the battalion 
deployed into line at the double, and crossed it in this formation, 
breaking to pass through the intervals between the guns. Presently, 
all along the face of the advancing infantrymen burst forth flaring 
volleys of musketry fire. The jagged lines spring onward through 
the maize fields, gradually assuming a concave shape. The Turkish 
position is neared. The roll of rifle fire is incessant, yet dominated by 
the fiercer and louder turmoil of the artillery above. The ammuni- 
tion wagons gallop up to the cannon with fresh fuel for the fire. 
The guns redouble the energy of their firing. The crackle of the 
musketry fire rises into a sharp peal. The clamor of the hurrahs 
of the fighting men comes back to us on the breeze, making the 
blood tingle with the excitement of the fray. A village is blazing 
on the left. The fell fury of the battle has entered on its maddest 
paroxysm. The supports that had remained behind, lying just un- 
der the crest of the slope, are pushed forward over the brow of the 
hill. The wounded begin to trickle back over the ridge. We can see 
the dead and the more severely wounded lying where they fall on the 
stubbles and amid the maize. The living wave of fighting men is 
pouring over them ever on and on. The gallant gunners to the 
right and to the left of us stand to their work with a will. On the 
shell-swept ridge the Turkish cannon fire begins to waver. In that 
earthwork over against us more supports stream down with a louder 
cheer into the Russian fighting line. Suddenly the disconnected 
men are together. We can discern the officers signaling for the 
concentration by the waving of their swords. The distance is about 
one hundred yards. There is a wild rush, headed by the Colonel of 
one of the regiments of the Thirty-second division. The Turks in the 
sheltered trench hold their ground, and fire steadily, and with terri- 
ble effect, into the advancing forces. The Colonel's horse goes down, 
but the Colonel is on his feet in a second, and, waving his sword, 
leads his men forward on foot. But only for a few paces. He stag- 
gers and falls. I heard afterward he was killed. We can hear the 
sound of wrath, half howl, half yell, with which his men, bayonets 
at the charge, rush to avenge him. They are over the parapet and 



THE BATTLES AROUND PLEVNA. 



293 



shelter trench, and in among the Turks like an avalanche. ISTot 
many Turks get a chance to run away from the gleaming bayo- 
nets, swayed by muscular Russian arms. The outer edge of the first 
position is won. This time the Turks did not wait for the bayonet 
points, but with one final volley abandoned the work. We watched 
their huddled mass in the gardens and vineyard behind the position, 
cramming the narrow track between the trees to gain the shelter of 
their batteries in the rear of the second position. So fell the first 
position of the Turks. Kriidener was clearly jammed. The Turks 
were fighting furiously, and were in unexpected force on the broad 
central ridge of theirs as well as against Kriidener. The first posi- 
tion, in natural as in artificial strength, was child's play to the grim 
starkness of the second on that isolated mamelon there with the bat- 
teries on the swell behind it. But Shachovsky determined to go for 
it, and his troops were not the men to balk him. The first rush, 
however, was out of them. Many must have been blown. They 
hung a good deal in the advance, exposing themselves recklessly, 
and falling fast, but not progressing with much speed. It is a dan- 
gerous time when troops sullenly stand still and doggedly fire when 
the stationaiy fit is on them. Shachovsky kept his finger well on the 
throbbing pulse of the battle. Just in the nick of time half his reserve 
brigades were thrown into the fight, while the other half took part 
in the attack on our left fiank. The new blood tells at once. There 
is a move forward, and no more standing and craning over the fence. 
The Turks in the fiank earthwork are reinforced. I can see some 
Eussian ofiicers on horseback standing coolly behind the bank of the 
vineyard that serves as a parapet, observing the addition to the 
Turkish force. They ride off and speedily return. I can hardly say 
how it all happens, but all of a sudden the white smoke spurts forth, 
and swarms of dark-clothed men are scrambling on. There is evi- 
dently a short, but sharp struggle. Then one sees a swarm of men 
flying across the green of the vineyard. But they don't go far, and 
prowl around the western and northern faces of the work, rendering 
its occupation very precarious. The Turkish cannon from behind 
drops shells into it with singular precision. As a matter of fact, the 
Russians occupied this, the second position of the Tm*ks, but never 
lield it. It was all but empty for a long thiie, and continuous fight- 
ing took place about its flanks. About six the Turks pressed for- 
ward a heavy mass of infantry for its recapture. Shachovsky took 
a bold step, sending two batteries down into the first position he had 



294 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



taken to keep them in check. But the Turks were not to be denied, 
and, in spite of the most determined fighting of the Russians, had 
reoccupied their second position before seven. The First brigade of 
the Thirty-fifth division had early inclined to the left, where the 
towers and houses of Plevna were visible. It was rash, for the 
brigade was exposing its right flank to the Turkish cannon astride 
of the ridge, but the goal of Plevna was a keen temptation. There 
was no thoroughfare, however. They would not give up, and they 
could not succeed. They charged again and again, and when they 
could charge no more from sheer fatigue, they stood and died, for 
they would not retire. The reserves came up, but only to swell the 
slaughter. And then the ammunition failed, for the carts had been 
left far behind, and all hope failed the most sanguine. Two com- 
panies of Russian infantry did indeed work round the right flank of 
the Turkish works and dodge into the town of Plevna, but it was 
like entering the mouth of hell. On the heights all round, the can- 
non smoke spurted out, and the vineyard in the rear of the town 
was alive with Turks. They left after a very short visit, and now all 
hope of success anywhere was dead, nor did a chance offer to make the 
best of defeat. Shachovsky had not a man left to cover the retreat. 
The Turks struck without stint. They had the upper-hand for 
once, and were determined to show that they knew how to make 
the most of it. They advanced in swarms through the dusk on 
their original first position, and captured three Russian cannon be- 
fore the batteries could be withdrawn. The Turkish shells began 
once more to whistle over the ridge above Radisevo and fall into the 
village behind, now crammed with wounded. The streams of 
wounded wending their painful way over the ridge were incessant. 
The badly wounded mostly lay where they fell. Later, in the 
darkness, a baleful sort of Krankentraeger swarmed over the battle- 
field in the shape of Bashi-Bazouks, who spared not. Lingering 
there on the ridge till the moon rose, the staff could hear from do^vn 
below on the still night air the cries of pain, the entreaties for mer- 
cy, and the yells of bloodthirsty fanatical triumph. It was indeed 
an hour to wring the sternest heart. We stayed there to learn, if it 
might be, what troops were coming out of the Yalley of the Shadow 
of Death below. Were there, indeed, any at all to come ? It did 
not seem to be the case. The Turks had our range before dark, 
and we could watch the fiash of flame over against us, and then 



THE BATTLES AROUND PLEVNA. 295 

listen to tlie scream of the sliell as it tore by us. The sound of rifle 
bullets was incessant, and the escort and the retreating wounded 
were struck. A detachment at length began to come straggling up, 
but it will give an idea of the disorganization to say that when a 
company was told off to cover somewhat the wounded in Eadisevo, 
it had to be made up of the men of several regiments." 

The battle was now over, and the Eussian defeat complete. The 
correspondent adds : 

" About 9 o'clock the staff quitted the ridge, leaving it littered 
with groaning men, and moving gently lest we should tread on the 
prostrate wounded. "We lost our way as we had lost our army. We 
could find no rest for the soles of our feet by reason of the alarms of 
the Bashi-Bazouks swarming in among the scattered and retiring Eus- 
sians. At length, at one in the morning, having been in the saddle 
since six on the previous morning, we turned into a stubble-field, and 
making beds of the reaped grain, correspondent and Cossack alike 
rested under the stai's. But we are not even then allowed to rest. 
Before four an alarm came that the Bashi-Bazouks were upon us, and 
we had to rouse and tramp away. The only protection of the chief of 
what in the morning was a fine army was now a handful of wearied 
Cossacks. About the Bashi-Bazouks there is worse to tell. At night 
they worked round into Eadisevo, and, falling upon the wounded 
there, butchered them without mercy. Kriidener sent word in the 
morning that he had lost severely, and could make no headway, and 
had resolved to fall back on the line of the river Osma, which falls 
into the Danube near Nicopolis. There had been talk, his troops 
being fresh, of renewing the attack to-day (31st) with his co-operation, 
but it is a plain statement of fact that we have no troops to attack 
with. The most moderate estimate is that we have lost two regi- 
ments, say 5,000 men, out of our three brigades, a ghastly number, 
beating Eylau or Friedland. This takes no account of Kriidener's 
losses. We, too, retire on the Osma Eiver, above Bulgareni, and 
to the best of our weak strength, cover the bridge at Sistova. One 
can not, at this moment of hurried confusion, realize all the possible 
results of this stroke, so rashly courted. Not a Eussian soldier stands 
between Tirnova and the victorious Turkish army in Lovatz and 
rievna. Only a weak division of the Eleventh corps stands between 
Tirnova and the Shumla army. I look on Shachovsky's force as 
wrecked — as no longer for this campaign to be counted for a fight- 



296 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



ing integer. It is not ten days since the Thirtietli division crossed 
the Danube in the pride of superb condition. ISTow what of it is 
left is demorahzed and shattered." 

This description of the battle of Plevna was written by Mr. Archi- 
bald Forbes, of the London Daily News^ who spent more than twenty 
hours in the saddle nnder lire. Hiding with the retreating Russians, 
he wrote off-hand, his dispatch, which was considered by the London 
critics the most brilliant war dispatch ever sent to any newspaper. 
The Russian authorities paid Mr. Forbes the compliment of using 
his dispatch as the official account of the battle throughout the Em- 
pire. 

Osman Pasha did not leave his position at Plevna after his vic- 
tory. The effect which a pursuit, even to the Osma only, might 
have produced upon the Russians, was shown by the panic which was 
occasioned in their ranks by a report that the Turks were in their 
rear. The immediate consequence of their defeat was that the corps 
of Gen. Gourko, the important point of Tirnova, and even the con- 
nections in the rear of the army operating against Rasgrad-Shumla 
were threatened. It became necessary to withdraw the left wing of 
the latter force, so that in the beginning of August, the communica- 
tions of the Turks between Rustchuk and Shumla were restored, and 
their field troops centered around Rustchuk advanced as far as Pisan- 
zi on the Lom. The Russian headquarters, which had been for some 
time at Tirnova, were moved back to Biela on the 31st of J uly, and 
the Czar retired to Tsarevitza on the Danube. The mobilization of 
the Imperial Guards, consisting of three divisions of infantry and 
two of cavalry, and of several other bodies of troops, was ordered, 
and a ukase, dated July 22d, was promulgated for the mobilization 
of 186,467 men of the Opoltchenie or Landwehr. 

In the Dobrudja, after the crossing of the Danube, the Russians 
had comparatively easy work. The opposition made by the Turks 
was very weak ; everywhere they retreated before the advancing 
Russians without risking an engagement. The Russians continued 
their forward movement as far as Trajan's wall, occupying the cities 
of Kustendji, Medjidie, and Tchernavoda. Detachments of Cossacks 
penetrated even south of the wall, but were forced to retire before a 
body of Egyptians. Gen. Zimmermann, however, continued to hold 
the wall of Trajan, without assuming the offensive in any direction, 
merely concentrating his troops toward the Danube. On July 31st, 
a Turkish fleet, consisting of seven ships, appeared before Kustendji, 



THE BA TTLES ARO UND PLE VNA. 297 

and slielled the place for two hours, after which it anchored for a 
few days in the harbor, without making any attempt at landing. 
The few Cossacks s.tationed at the port remained quiet during the 
whole period of the presence of the ships. 

After the battle of Plevna of July 30th and 31st, comparative 
quiet reigned for a time on the scene of action. On August Yth, 
the Turks .repulsed an attack of the Russians on Lovatz. Osman 
Pasha sent his cavalry on reconnoissances as far as ITicopolis. On 
their other front, that turned toward Pustchuk, Pasgrad, and 
Shumla, the Russians evacuated the whole country east of the Kara 
Lorn or Black Lom, while their right wing was withdrawn from 
Osman Bazar to Kesrova on the road to Tirnova. The Russian 
position in the middle of August was virtually as follows : The right 
wing, consisting of three army corps, was situated with its front on 
the line of Plevna-Lovatz, on both banks of the Osma, leaning on 
the right on Nicopolis, which was garrisoned by the fourth Ruma- 
nian division. The center, consisting of one army coi'ps, fronting 
toward the south and stationed upon the line Tirnova, Gabrova, and 
Elena, was expected to support General Gourko, who, returning 
from his dash across the Balkans, was fortifying himself in the 
Shipka Pass. The left wing, consisting of two army corps, fronted 
on the line of Shumla, Rasgrad, and Rustchuk, and was stationed 
along the Kara Lom. According to the most trustworthy reports, 
the Russians were opposed at this time by the following forces : Me- 
hemet Ali Pasha, with 70,000 regulars and 30,000 irregulars, in and 
around Rasgrad, and 12,000 men at Osman Bazar ; Suleiman Pasha, 
on the southern slope of the central Balkans, with 15,000 regulars 
and 5,000 irregulars; Osman Pasha, at Plevna and Lovatz, with 
30,000 regulars and 10,000 irregulars, making altogether 127,000 men 
and 4-5,000 irregulars. In addition to these. Prince Hassan of Egypt 
had 15,000 men in the Dobrudja, north of Yarna; Said Pasha had 
25,000 men in Silistria and Turtukai ; 14,000 men were stationed 
around Kissa and Sophia, and 12,000 men in and around Widin, and 
about 7,000 irregulars were distributed with the four last-named 
forces. Not including the army of Rustchuk, whose strength was 
unknown, the Turkish army in Bulgaria at this time amounted to 
about 193,000 men and 52,000 irregulars. But in the beginning of 
August some change had taken place in the disposition of these 
troops, as the forces in Mssa and Sophia had been directed to join 
Osman Pasha at Plevna. It seems more than doubtful, however. 



298 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



tliat these troops should have increased his force to Y0,000 men, as 
he stated himself. The only reinforcements which the Tm-ks re- 
ceived in Bulgaria during the month of August were several thou- 
sand regulars, transported by vessels from the Caucasus to Varna, 
and several thousand men (ten thousand, according to Turkish re- 
ports), which were sent from Phihppopolis to Suleiman Pasha. The 
operations during August consisted mainly in a fierce struggle for 
the Shipka Pass. In turning their attention chiefly to this pass, and 
in leaving the task of storming it to their center only, while their 
right and left wings, both of them stronger than the center, were 
left idle, the Tnrks gave to the hard-pushed Kussians what they 
needed more than all else, time. Every day gained brought the re- 
inforcements nearer, which were on the march from Poland, the 
shores of the Black Sea, and from St. Petersburg. Even before the 
Shipka Pass was attacked, it seemed for a while as if Suleiman Pasha 
would cross the mountains to the east of it, while leaving a consider- 
able force at Kasanlik. On the 15th, several Turkish detachments 
started from the village Hainkoi to cross the mountains by the Hain- 
koi Pass, the same pass which General Grourko had used. They 
were, however, stopped by the 39th infantry regiment, and left the 
pass on the 17th. The Russians had not expected to see the Shipka 
Pass attacked from the front. All the orders issued by the Grand 
Duke commander, clearly showed that he anticipated attacks from 
the Plevna-Lovatz position on the one hand, and from Pasgrad and 
Osman Bazar on the other, at the same time. Suleiman Pasha was 
expected, by turning the Shipka Pass on the east, to join hands with 
Mehemet Ali's army, advancing from Osman Bazar. It was reason- 
ably supposed that by a simultaneous advance of the different Turk- 
ish forces north of the Balkans, the pass would fall into their hands 
without a great struggle. But the Turks disappointed all reasonable 
expectations, and while the two Turkish wings remained almost in- 
active, the center, under Suleiman Pasha, advanced to the attack of 
the Shipka Pass. After having occupied the village of Shipka on 
the 19th, he assailed the fortified positions to the north of it on the 
21st. The Russians, not suspecting the intention of the enemy, had 
left but a small garrison in the pass, consisting of the Bulgarian 
Legion and an infantry regiment of the 9th division. The Russian 
position, however, was very strong. The correspondent of the Lon- 
don Times described it as follows : 

'•The Russian position is extremely strong- -in fact, if it were 



THE BATTLES AROUND PLEVNA. 



301 



properly defended it might be held against overwhelming numbers. 
But the Eussians have either not had time, or do not intend to hold 
the pass, for thej have only fifteen guns in position, and these, I imag- 
ine, from the broken pieces of shell that I have seen, are ordinary 
field-pieces. The position of these guns is almost inaccessible from 
the southern side, or where the Turks are attacking, as one-half of 
them are placed on a kind of buttress of rock, commanding the 
road, and the remainder are divided into three small earthworks 
that enfilade the approach to the base of this rock, and also sweep 
the broad glacis of green turf which flanks the road on both sides. 
For 500 yards on all sides of the Eussian position there is no kind 
of shelter, and the only way in which these works can be carried is 
by assault." ■ 

The entire Eussian force, in all probabihty, did not exceed 4,000 
men. They nevertheless repulsed the numerous attacks of the 
Turks, made with great force and energy. On the same day Osman 
Pasha made a feint from Lovatz on Selvi, in order to prevent assist- 
ance being sent from that point to the pass. On the 22d the Turks 
took the Eussians on the flank, so that on the 23d the brave garrison 
found itself in very close quarters, having been compelled to give 
up some of the ground held, and having suffered considerable loss. 
At this critical moment the Eussians received considerable rein- 
forcements, and General Eadetzky himself hastened on from Tir- 
nova to assume the command, so that on the evening of the 24th 
the Eussians had regained all their lost positions. The losses on 
both sides were very great ; but while Suleiman continued to send 
fresh troops to the front, the Eussians also received considerable re- 
inforcements from Timova on the 25th and the following days, so 
that although the struggle was renewed from time to time. General 
Eadetzky, at the close of the month, was in complete possession of 
the pass. The correspondent of the London Times gives the fol- 
lowing desciiption of the Eussian position and the operations in the 
pass : 

General Eadetzky occupies the positions held so manfully dur- 
ing the twelve days in which the Moslem host dashed themselves so 
bravely, but fruitlessly against his intrenched Hues. His advanced 
center holds Mount St. Nicholas, the highest point in the Shipka 
Pass ; his right and left flanks rest upon two crests, which stand a 
little to the northward of that point. His line forms a very obtuse 
angle, the vertex of which is cut off by the central position at 



302 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Mount St. l^icholas. To his extreme right and left are ridges ex- 
tending parallel to the Russian wings, and running northward nearly 
to the Gabrova road, the only line of communication of the Russian 
troops. The Turks, having vastly superior numbers, extended their 
flanks down these last-mentioned ridges, and nearly enveloped the 
Russian positions, so nearly accomplishing this result, that they 
swept the Gabrova road in many places with mnsketry fire. Noth- 
ing but absolute want of generalship on the part of the Turkish 
commander prevented this double flank movement being so extended 
as completely to cut off the Russians from both food and water be- 
fore the arrival of General Radetzky with his timely reinforcements. 
"When Radetzky came np on the 23d of August he at once charged 
the Turkish positions on his flanks, and carried them, in this way 
overcoming to a great extent the difficulty of providing his men 
with food and water. Between the two lines held by the opposing 
forces are deep valleys, which might almost be called ravines, and 
the Russian troops had to go np and down the steep sides of these 
ravines to reach their enemies. 

"The Russians now hold the crest formerly occupied by the 
Turks on their right wing, while the latter have fallen back to the 
next ridge, where they keep up a desultory fire with the Russian 
pickets. In the rear of Mount St. Nicholas is a second peak about 
half a mile from it, which forms a second center, so to speak, both 
of them, however, running into the line of heights held by the two 
wings of the Russian army in the Shipka Pass. Strong batteries 
have been constructed upon all the Russian heights, and they are 
practically impregnable. 

" A General officer told me to-day, that during the twelve days' 
operations in the Shipka Pass the Turks made one hundred and 
four distinct aggressive movements. From this some idea may be 
formed of the enormous losses which they must have suffered. 
They made every assault with the most desperate courage, and were 
compelled to move up precipitous hill-sides, defended on the sum- 
mits by intrenchments." 

The fighting throughout was of the most sanguinary character, 
the Russians particularly performing deeds of valor, which were 
described as truly wonderful by eye-witnesses. The correspondent 
of the London News^ in describing the fighting, said : 

" Occasionally, at some point the Russians would be hurled clean 
back out of the wood altogether. I could mark the Turks follow- 



THE BATTLES AROUND PLEVNA. 



303 



ing them eagerly to its edge, lying down while pouring out a galling 
fire. The troops who were charged with making this front attack 
merely succeeded in preventing the Turkish efforts to work round 
to the Russian rear. It was therefore decided at noon to deliver a 
counter flank movement. Two battalions, executing this move- 
ment, had to advance under a tremendous fire from Turkish mount- 
ain guns. The fighting on the Turkish front and flank lasted for 
a full hour, but at last the Turks were seen withdrawing their bat- 
tery of mountain guns near the right flank, which was a sure sign 
that danger menaced it if it stayed longer. Their left battery fol- 
lowed their example, which showed the Russians gained the ridge 
on the Turkish left also. There remained but the central peak of 
the Turkish positions. That carried, the ridge would be ours, and 
our right flank would be set free from the dangerous pressure on it." 

Owing to the inactivity of Osman Pasha, who did not undertake 
anything beyond the feint on Selvi, General Radetzky was enabled 
to bring up nearly his entire army corps to the defense of the posi- 
tion, while the Second infantry division was ordered from the lower 
Yantra to the pass. This division went to Selvi, w^here it replaced 
the Ninth, which had hurried on to the scene of action. Mehemet 
Ali on the Rasgrad and Eski Djuma line did as little as Osman Pasha 
to assist Suleiman Pasha. There were indeed engagements, on 
August 22d, at Karakoi, on the Upper Kara Lom, and on August 
23d, at Kisilar and Yaslar, between the troops of Mehemet Ali and 
the Thirteenth Russian army corps; but these actions were only 
casual ones, not forming parts of any preconcerted plan. 

Rustchuk was bombarded during August from both sides, from 
Giurgevo and from the Bulgarian side of the river, but little im- 
pression was made. A weak movement from Rustchuk against 
Dolob, five miles from the fortress on the Lom, was easily repulsed 
by the Russians. The last days of August saw a resumption of hos- 
tilities along the entire line. On August 80th, both of the Turkish 
armies on either side of the Russians assumed the ofifensive. On the 
left wing of the Russian army, commanded by the Czarevitch, a battle 
was fought at Karasan, twenty-five miles north-west of Osman Bazar, 
which resulted in a victory for the Turks. Three Turkish divisions, 
including the Egyptian division under Prince Hassan, which had 
been ordered up from the Dobrudja, advanced on both banks of the 
Kara Lom and drove back the Russian troops, four thousand men 
with ten guns, after severe fighting, with heavy losses on both sides. 



304 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



At the same time sorties of the garrison of Rustchuk compelled the 
Twelfth army corps to remain at the Lower Lorn. The correspond- 
ent of the London Times gives the following description of the 
battle : 

" Early this morning ISTedjib Pasha advanced from Adakoi, near 
Rasgrad, with three brigades, two batteries of artillery, two squad- 
rons of cavalry, and one brigade of infantry reserve. Mehemet 
Ali and Prince Hassan took up a position with their staff on a high 
hill immediately north of Yenikoi, which commands an nninter- 
rupted view from Rasgrad to beyond Osman Bazar. The Russians 
from their batteries behind Sadana opened fire about nine o'clock 
on the advancing Turks. JSTedjib steadily advanced, and entered 
the burning village of Sadana by half -past eleven o'clock. The re- 
treating Russians were hotly pressed. They retired precipitately 
to Karasan, where they made a vigorous stand. Savfet Pasha 
created a diversion by attacking Haidarkoi. The Russians had a 
battery of three guns to their right, near Haidarkoi. They made 
splendid practice at the advancing Turks and Egyptians, but these 
cleverly opened out and advanced to the right and left of the vil- 
lage in a really workmanlike style. The engagement now became 
general, and extended over some fifteen miles. A heavy and con- 
tinued roll of fire of skirmishers was heard along all the ridges from 
Basisler to near Sadana. By four o'clock Karasan was in flames. 
The Russians gradually gave way, and the Turks redoubled the 
energy of their attack. At five o'clock the enemy were scampering 
out of Haidarkoi, and horses were trotting up to take the guns out 
of the battery. The Turkish battery was making splendid practice, 
and fired just as the guns were taken off. One gun was struck with 
the last shell. The Turks cheered, and dashed through the blazing 
village and away to the left to Popkoi like a pack of hounds. The 
Russian camps were hastily cleared out, two guns covering their 
retreat and making excellent practice. But the Turks and Egyp- 
tians still scampered over the ground in fine style. The Russians 
were now in full retreat in every direction, and by sunset the Turks 
had proved for the second time, not only capable of meeting the 
Russians in the open, but also of driving them from their strongly- 
intrenched positions." 

On the Russian right wing, fronting toward Plevna, General 
Zotoff repulsed a Turkish attack on Pelisat on August 31st. The 
battle is described by the Daily JVews correspondent as follows ; 



THE BATTLES AROUND PLEVNA. 



305 



" Osman Paslia's attack on the Russian positions at Pelisat niid 
vicinity was one of the most hardly-fought battles of the war. The 
Turks, early in the fight, captured a Russian redoubt, one mile in 
front of Pelisat. In the course of one hour this redoubt was taken 
by the Turks, retaken by the Russians, and taken again by the 
Turks. The Russian left wing was driven back on Pelisat, in front 
of which trenches had been dug and were lined with troops. The 
Turks advanced as though determined to drive our left out of 
Pelisat and turn it. The Turks began to descend the hill in that 
direction, not with a rush, but leisurely, and without firing ; not in 
masses or lines, but scattered and diffused. They came down about 
half way in this manner, the Russian artillery tearing up the groups 
all the time in the most savage manner. The Russian infantry fire, 
which had for the last five minutes been very heavy about Zgalince, 
now began, to roll along the hill-crest in our direction, and the 
Turks, who were just coming into range, began to drop rapidly. 
The Turkish advance now veered to the left, and went at the Rus- 
sian trenches on the crest of the hills between Pelisat and Zgalince 
with a shout, opening fire at the same time. The Turks descended 
into a little hollow and were lost to sight for a time, while the Rus- 
sian trenches flamed and smoked, and a storm of balls was poured 
into the advancing Turks. This must have lasted fifteen or twenty 
minutes, during which time fearful loss of life must have occurred. 
Then we saw the Turks begin to withdraw, carrying off their 
wounded. The Turks had no sooner withdrawn from the Russian 
fire than they formed and advanced again. Many dead bodies of 
Turks were found within ten feet of the Russian trenches. The 
little slope, on the crest of which the trenches were situated, was 
literally covered with dead. I counted seven on a space of not 
more than ten feet square. The battle here was terrible, but the 
Turks were again repulsed. It will hardly be believed that they 
went at it again, and yet they did so. It seemed madness, because 
we could see that the Russian fire never slackened an instant, and 
that the Russian line never wavered, while reserves were waiting 
behind ready to fall in at the least sign of wavering. This scene 
of carnage was again repeated, but only lasted a moment. The 
Turks, completely broken, withdrew sullenly, firing, and carrying 
off their wounded and many of their dead. They fell back on the 
redoubt which they had first taken, apparently wdth the intention 
of holding it, but they were not allowed to remain long there. 



3o6 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Another attack on the Russian center had been equally as unsuc- 
cessful as that on the Russian trenches on the left. The Russians 
pursued the retreating Turks with a murderous fire. Then six 
companies went at them with bayonet and swept them out of the 
redoubt like a whirlwind. At four o'clock the Turks were in re- 
treat everywhere, and the Russians occupied the whole of their first 
position, besides pursuing the Turks a short distance with cavalry. 
The Russians were about twenty thousand strong. Their loss is 
estimated at five hundred, and the Turkish loss at two thousand 
killed and wounded." 

On September 3d, Gen. Skobeleff, by a brilliant stroke, recaptm-ed 
Lovatz, which had been in Osman Pasha's hands for five weeks. 
The battle was described by eye-witnesses as very severe, and the 
losses on both sides were very great. The loss of Lovatz interrupted 
the direct communication between Osman Pasha and Suleiman Pasha, 
while it enabled the Russians gradually to surround Osman Pasha's 
position at Plevna, and to cut off all his communications. 

On August 31st, Mehemet All's headquarters were at Yenikoi, on 
the Lom, while on the same day the Russians held the left bank of 
the river as far south as Gagova. Mehemet Ali quietly holding his 
positions on the Lom, concentrated all his forces on its right bank 
toward Yenikoi, while on the left bank the Thirteenth Russian corps 
was stationed on the line of Ablava and Kechlova, near Biela. The 
Twelfth corps remained before Rustchuk, on the Lower Lom. Some 
detachments of this corps had an engagement at Kadikoi with troops 
from Rustchuk, in which the Turks were forced to retreat. In the 
meantime, Mehemet Ali, remaining in his posts on the Lom, and 
without pursuing the advantage he had gained, ordered Achmet 
Eyub Pasha to advance from his position at Rasgrad. On Sept. 6th, 
Eyub Pasha attacked the Russian positions at Kechlova. The Turk- 
ish forces were greatly superior to the Russians in point of numbers 
and were constantly receiving accessions. The Russians fought with 
great bravery, but were finally compelled to retreat beyond the Lom. 
The correspondent of the London Standard, at Shumla, stated that 
the battle was a very fierce one, and lasted fully ten hours. On the 
Yth, the Turks took Kadikoi and forced the Russians to cross to the 
left bank of the Lom at this point also, so that the entire right bank 
was cleared of Russians. On the 8th, Mehemet Ali crossed the river 
with three divisions, and began to advance slowly toward the 
Yantra. 



THE BATTLES AROUND PLEVNA. 



307 



Osman Pasha, in the meanwliile, had transformed his position 
around Plevna into a fortress of unusual strength, against which sin- 
gle attacks were of no use, and which could only be reduced by a 
long and protracted siege. The correspondent of the Do^ly News^ 
in speaking of the situation, said : " It is obvious that the fortifica- 
tions have been much strengthened since the last battle. The longer 
one looks at the place, the more thoroughly does one feel the tough- 
ness of the Eussian task. The position must be attacked as a whole 
and taken as a whole. If the northern ridge were taken and occu- 
pied, the position of the central swell would not be materially im- 
paired. Suppose that a lodgment was effected on the central swell, 
that lodgment would be commanded by the northern ridge and the 
redoubts on the south of the town. All that is wanted to make the 
Turkish position virtually impregnable is the fortification of the ridge 
in front of Radisevo." 

The Russians assigned to operate before Plevna had also not been 
idle, but had received considerable reinforcements, including three 
Rumanian divisions. The combined Russian and Rumanian forces 
were placed imder the command of Prince Charles of Rumania, 

A series of battles was begun around Plevna on the Yth of Septem- 
ber, w^hich lasted for a week, and were not exceeded in sanguinary 
character by any of the fierce conflicts which had taken place for the 
Shipka Pass. The Russians began the attack with a furious can- 
nonade. This was kept up until the 11th, when the Russians pro- 
ceeded to storm the Turkish positions. An idea of the fighting may 
be gained from the account of the correspondent of the Daily News^ 
of the operations on the 8th : 

" "When the cannonade recommenced this morning it was not easy 
at first to recognize that the Russians had gained any advantage the 
day before. The parapet of the Grivitza redoubt had been a good 
deal jagged by Russian shells, but under cover of the night all its 
defects had been made good, and it looked as trim as if never a shot 
had been fired at it. But the Russians had, during the night, gained 
a large slice of ground in the direction of Grivitza, and a battery of 
siege guns had been built on an elevation within easy range of the 
redoubt. At sunrise that battery came into action in rear of the ad- 
vanced battery, and sent its fire sweeping down into the redoubt, 
which could not reply to the siege battery, the range being too long ; 
so it pounded away at the field batteries on the ridge, but the prac- 
tice was not good, and few casualties occurred. The Russian siege 



3o8 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



battery made admirable practice at tlie Grivitza redoubt, wbieb is tbe 
key to the position, and instead of spreading tbeir fire, the E-nssians 
should have concentrated upon it the whole weight of the bombard- 
ment. As it is, they may bombard it for a week and after all not 
succeed in taking it. The assault was intended to begin yesterday 
afternoon at 5 o'clock, but owing to delays the troops were not in 
position by the appointed time. Everywhere now the infantry is in 
position waiting for the word. 

" Toward noon the Russian infantry pushed forward in skirmish- 
ing order, driving back the outlying Turks ; the artillery followed 
and came into action at short range. The Turkish retm-n fire, chiefly 
directed at the Russian first line of artillery, was very heavy, but lit- 
tle harm was done. Further on the left, to the crest of the range 
beyond Radisevo, which was one array of field batteries, the firing 
was very heavy, the Turkish shells doing great damage among the 
gunners, and falling behind among the infantry on the reverse slope 
and in Radisevo. At three o'clock the Russians advanced toward the 
Turkish positions, and continued to fire somewhat slackly. The fire 
must have reached into Plevna." 

On the 9th, the Turks undertook a sortie against the Russian left 
wing, but were forced to retreat with considerable loss. The Ru- 
manians then advanced close up to the redoubts of the enemy. In 
the evening the Russian siege batteries were brought into a more 
favorable position. 

The morning of the 11th, the day intended for the assault, broke 
with rain, which settled down into a dense mist, through which ob- 
jects were invisible at a distance of one hundred yards. The Daily 
News correspondent gives the following description of the battle, 
as witnessed by him from the heights in front of Radisevo : 

" About ten a.m. the fog lifted somewhat, and at that rime the Gri- 
vitza redoubt was still alive, although its fire could not be called brisk. 
To our left, near the Lovatz and Plevna road, there were occasional 
intermittent bursts of infantry fire. Soon after ten o'clock occm-red 
an ominous lull in the firing. Of this the Turks jauntily took ad- 
vantage to come out from behind the parapets and stroll about the 
glacis with the utmost nonchalance. Then the fog came down again, 
veiling everything and hiding everything. At eleven precisely a 
furious musketry fire suddenly burst out on our left from the Rus- 
sians pushing their way out of the gap through the passes of the 
Lovatz-Plevna road and against the redoubt on the summit of an iso- 




I 



THE BATTLES AROUND PLEVNA. 



lated mameloii, soutli-east of tlie town of Plevna. The Turks, so far 
as could be judged from the sound, seemed to be in great measure 
reserving their fire until the Russians came to close quarters with 
them, as everything was invisible at a distance of twenty yards. This 
also applies to their artillery fire, although the Russian batteries con- 
tinued furiously to shell the Turkish positions. 

" About noon the fog lifted somewhat, but fell again. During the 
interval the cannon in the Turkish second position could be seen 
firing hard in the direction of the hostile musketry fire. After the fog 
again fell, one thing became certain from the sound of the firing, 
that the infantry fighting had a tendency to retrograde from the 
Turkish front, moving further to the left and nearer to the fighting 
just above the western edge of the village of Radisevo. Exactly 
along the space held by Prince Shachovsky's staff as the foremost 
line on the night of the 30th of July, I found several batteries of 
Russian field artillery in steady action against the first and second 
Turkish position on the central swell, a little to the right and rear 
of the infantry still engaged in desultory fighting. The commander 
of a battery told us, with an assumption of indifference, that the fight- 
ing which was dying out was merely f orepost work to clear the way 
for a grand assault against the redoubt on the isolated mamelon, 
which was to be made in the afternoon, but with a glass I could dis- 
cern on the slopes leading up to the mamelon Russian dead and 
wounded lying about sadly thick. Successive bodies of Turks were 
streaming down the slope of the mamelon against the huddled mass 
of Russians, retiring seemingly on the shelter trenches athwart the 
mouth of the road ravine, and ascending the slopes to our immediate 
right. It was also clear that Gen. Skobeleff had attacked the re- 
doubt and covered way due east from the isolated mamelon. Yet 
further to the left on the extreme westward of Radisevo ridge skir- 
mishing was going on, but the Turks presented an obstinate front, and 
fired steadily from shelter trenches. This was at two o'clock, and for 
nearly two hours little forepost affairs of no consequence went on." 

The operations in other parts of the field were described as fol- 
lows by the London Times : 

" At 12 : 50 P.M. one brigade of Gen. Zotoff's corps, supported by 
another, attacked the center redoubt on the south side, one and a 
half miles from Radisevo. The attack was repulsed by a rifle fire, 
after lasting ninety minutes. It was renewed again at 4 p.m. Twelve 
battalions of Russians advanced with the most splendid and devoted 



312 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



bravery, right up to tlie ditcli, carrying scaling ladders. They sur- 
rounded the redoubt on three sides, and hung on to it magnificently. 
At 4:45 o'clock they were actually in the redoubt, but nothing 
mortal could face the fire from the repeating-rifles. They were 
destroyed by hundreds at a few paces. At 4 : 52 the sui-vivors fell 
slowly back. The Rumanians at the same time, under the personal 
observation of the Emperor, three times assaulted the most salient 
central redoubt lower down than Grivitza, but were always beaten 
back. Their scaling-ladder parties were killed on the counterscai'p 
of the ditch to the last officer and man. At 5 p.m. the assault had 
been repulsed along the whole line, and very few reserves remained 
in hand. J^ews was brought the Czar at daybreak on Wednesday 
that at Y o'clock on Tuesday evening two fresh Russian brigades had 
carried the redoubt where the Rumanians had been repulsed in the 
afternoon, and after sustaining a counter attack from the Turks, 
followed them up and took the next redoubt also. 

" The first redoubt which was captm-ed partially, commands the 
rest, and can, with a little spade-work, be converted into a means of 
approaching all the rest in turn. A great failure was therefore 
remedied at the eleventh hour. The Archangel regiment achieved 
the greatest feat. Col. Schmetler, an Aide-de-camp of the Emperor, 
was shot dead as he planted the colors on the parapet with his own 
hand. I estimated the forces engaged at about 57,000 on the 
Russo-Rumanian side, against from 50,000 to 70,000 Turks. The 
valor of the Russian troops is the only thing to be praised, as the 
attack was unskilKully directed, and the waste of life unnecessary. 
The Turks were very skillfully handled. They must have lost some 
men in their two sallies in the open ; otherwise they were completely 
covered and lay close till the moment of assault." 

From this report it appears that the Russians again committed the 
blunder which lost for them the first battle of Plevna, and the same 
charges were made as to the inefficiency of the leaders. 

On the morning of the 12th, no further direct attacks were under- 
taken by the Russians, but a continuous bombardment of the fortifi- 
cations as well as of the town was kept up. The Turks did not 
respond to this fire very strongly ; but in the afternoon they under- 
took, on their part, a series of attacks on the Russian left wing, 
which threatened them in the rear. Five times Gen. SkobelefE 
repulsed these attacks, but at the sixth attack he was forced to 
evacuate the two redoubts on the Lovatz road captm-ed the day 



THE BATTLES AROUND PLEVNA. 



before, so that only tlie redoubt at Grivitza remained in the hands 
of the Russians. 

The correspondent of the London Times., in speaking of this 
position, said : 

" On the evening of the 11th, after the Russians had failed three 
times in attempting to take the redoubt at the western extremity of 
the Plevna valley, SkobeleflE succeeded in driving the Turks out of 
the double redoubt, and established himself in their place. This 
work is situated between the Sophia and Lovatz roads, and was cap- 
tured by Skobeleff from the westward. He immediately asked for 
reinforcements, and continued to do so in vain until the evening of 
the 12th, when the shattered remains of a regiment which had suf- 
fered severely the day before, were sent to him. Shortly afterward 
two other battalions were sent, but this style of reinforcement was 
like a drop in the ocean ; and the Turks becoming aware of the fact 
that Skobeleff had not been properly supported, made a detour round 
the hill and assaulted the redoubt with an overwhelming force of 
infantry. Five times they were hurled back by Skobeleff's men, 
but the sixth assault was too much for the overburdened garrison, 
and the Turks recaptured the redoubt and still continue to hold it." 

The blunders committed by both armies were severely commented 
(m by all eye-witnesses, all of whom agreed that bravely as the 
soldiers on both sides fought, the mistakes of their generals nullified 
all the advantages gained. The London Times said, on this subject, 
that " The blunders of both Turks and Russians in this campaign 
are unequaled in the history of warfare. A success by either side is 
certain to be followed by some suicidal attempt which more than 
neutralizes all that has been previously gained with heavy expendi- 
ture of blood." 

'^he Rumanian troops, on this occasion, were under fire for the 
first time during the war. Much had been said against them, and it 
was generally expected that they would fail to deport themselves 
well while under fire. The result, however, proved the opposite to 
be the case. All who witnessed the terrible struggle for the Grivitza 
redoubt, which was held by the Rumanians, agree that they behaved 
with the utmost gallantry. The correspondent of the London Times 
speaks as follows of their conduct during the battle : 

" The great redoubt was defended entirely by Rumanian infantiy, 
who held the work with the most desperate courage and tenacity, re- 
ceiving therefor the eulogies of the Russian Emperor and all the 



314 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



foreign spectators of their valor Should the Eussians succeed 

in taking Plevna, they will owe no trivial part of their victory to 
the co-operation of their Rumanian alHes." 

The losses on both sides were very great. The Grand Duke 
Nicholas, in an official despatch, stated the Russian loss in killed 
and wounded to be 300 officers and 12,500 men, and the Rumanian 
loss at 60 officers and 3,000 men. The Turks did not lose as many 
men as the Russians, during the first days, as they were not so ex- 
posed, but during the attacks on the redoubts, their loss was reported 
to be fully equal to that of the Russians. 



CHAPTER YI. 



THE FALL OF PLEVNA. 

Renewed fighting in the Shipka Pass— Defeat of Mehemet Ali at Tcherkovna— Mehemet 
All replaced by Suleiman in the Supreme Command— Formation of the Army of 
Orkhanie — Reinforcements and Ammunition for Plevna — Battle of Gorni Dabnik — 
Capture of Telis— Battle of Radomirze— The investment of Plevna complete— Cap- 
ture of the Green Hill— Formation of the Army of Sophia— Capture of Teteven 
and Vratza — The Rumanians take Rahova — Capture of Pravetz and Etropol — Turks 
evacuate Orkhanie and retreat beyond the Balkans — Suleiman's advance on the 
Lom— Capture of Elena by the Turks— End of the Turkish Advance— The fall of 
Plevna. 

Suleiman Pasha having nearly exhausted his forces in the last 
days of August in a vain struggle for the Shipka Pass, and the 
Eighth Russian army corps, under Gen. Padetzky, having maintained 
all its positions, the Turkish general spent the first few weeks of 
September in reorganizing his forces. He did not, however, receive 
reinforcements of any account. "While Eadetzky was completing 
his fortifications and his roads, Suleiman Pasha was actively en- 
gaged in constructing war batteries, and in bringing up heavy guns. 
The first haK of the month, therefore, passed without any engage- 
ment of consequence, but was occupied with cannonades and skir- 
mishes. But in the night, from the 16th to the lYth, the Turks sud- 
denly attacked the Russians along the entire line. The correspond- 
ent of the London Times^ writing on September lYth, described the 
attack as follows : 

" At length the eventful day for which we have been so patiently 
waiting has arrived, and for once rumor proved correct, so far as 
that the attempt to capture the Russian positions would be by a 
night attack. For the last three days sure signs had been observ- 
able that some movement of importance was imminent, not the 
least of which being the provision made for the expected wounded, 
as to whom the English and Austrian ambulances appear to have 
worked a revolution with regard to their treatment in this army. 
Last night the preparations were complete, and at about ten o'clock 
eight battalions, numbering 3,000 men, marched noiselessly and 
passed headquarters to form the central attacking column, under 

(315) 



3i6 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Salih Pasha, while an equal force, commanded by Yeisel Pasha, 
ascended the western heights, and some 2,000 men were sent to the 
eastward, where Brigadier Redjib Pasha has for some time been es- 
tablished. The night was favorable. The assigned positions were 
taken without the enemy having the shghtest intimation of any- 
thing imusual being about to occur Shortly before four 

o'clock on Monday morning, the general, on whom devolved the 
duty of leading the attack on the center and chief position — Port 
St. ISTicholas, a huge rock which towers on high above the point 
where the Shipka road attains its greatest elevation — taking advan- 
tage of the darkness of the hour, quitted his well-selected cover, and 
advanced his men up the green slope at the base of the rock, and, 
proceeding farther, was soon established upon its steep and rugged 
face without firing a shot. Arrived here, however, the alarm was 
quickly given, and the rock soon became ahve with vivid flashes of 
rifle firing. This continued for the space of haK an hour, at the ex- 
piration of which the fire became lessened, giving assurance that 
the position, formidable as it is, was won at the commencement of 
the attack. I was at headquarters on the plain, at the mouth of the 
Pass, when it was announced that a telegram had been received from 
the eastern battery that Fort St. Mcholas had actually been taken. 
The rapidity with which this seems to have been done astonished 
Suleiman Pasha, who was upon the point of telegraphing the wel- 
come news to Constantinople, when he reflected upon it and made 
use of the wire to inquire if there could be any misconception. The 
answer was reassuring, and the cessation of the fire seemed to con- 
firm the truth of the message. At this moment, however, the Turk- 
ish artillery opened upon the rearward portion of the fort, and this 
proved, unfortunately, that Suleiman's doubts were too well founded. 
His mortar batteries were finng heavily also, and the rattle of mus- 
ketry became incessant. Dawn had just lifted the curtain of 
darkness, and every moment of increasing light extinguished, as it 
were, the flash of the rifle. [Not alone in the center, but to the east- 
ward and westward, the din of battle could now be heard, echoed and 
re-echoed in the mountain spaces where the combat was progress- 
ing Arrived at last at the top, the exertion was amply 

repaid, and the reason of the error above referred to became easy to 
understand. Seen from the plain, the rock might readily be sup- 
posed just before daylight to have been captm'ed, for its summit is, 
perhaps, a hundred yards deep, and is broken up into jagged and 



THE FALL OF PLEVNA, 



storm-torn ravines. About half-way along is a cleft, and the Turk- 
ish troops could be seen firing with the utmost energy across at the 
Russians, hidden under whatever cover there was to be met with 
upon their side of it, while their own numerously intrenched men 
were picking off their exposed assailants most mercilessly. The 
eastern battery was pouring its shells in among the enfiladed 
trenches, but their guns on the western side were unable to play 
with so great effect on account of the closeness of the combatants to 
each other. All this time I looked anxiously, but in vain, for the 
attacks which it must have been intended that the battalions told off 
for the purpose on either side should have long ago carried out. 
Fighting was to be heard going on in the valleys covered from view 
by the intervening ridges of the mountains, but this was of a desul- 
tory nature, and soon ceased almost entirely, and one's attention be- 
came rivetted by the events passing immediately before the eye. 
The Turkish center was evidently admirably and bravely led by 
Salih Pasha's second in command. He poured up his men with the 
utmost rapidity, and their fire was as incessant as their exposure to 
that of the enemy from their thickly-lined trenches was great. That 
the Turkish fire was effective was shown by the sight of the wounded 
who were being conveyed from the stoutly-defended side of the cleft. 
The eastern battery was hotly replied to all the time by the Turkish 
guns on the Shipka road, and their having fuse shells gave some 
compensation for the losses which their side sustained from the cor- 
rectness of aim of the Tm*kish artillerymen. The delay in the fur- 
ther advance of the Turkish center was becoming extraordinary, the 
numbers opposed to it being very inferior numerically. ]^o reserves 
appeared to be sent forward on the Russian side. Something had 
evidently gone out of gear, as the best-contrived plan will sometimes 
do, and the fighting had endured, it must be remembered, since 
dawn. About a quarter to eleven, however, a startling change oc- 
curred. A dark mass of men was to be seen advancing from the 
direction of Gabrova along the high-road through the pass. This 
unlooked-for apparition quickly determined whatever hesitation the 
gallant Turkish leader of the center might have entertained, for he saw 
himself in danger of being surrounded by fresh masses of the enemy. 
It proved to be some 1,600 Russian Chasseurs, who had been sent 
forward as speedily as possible on the alarm of the attack arriving. 
The order to retire was at once sounded, and down again came the 
now disheartened troops, with the cup of victory dashed from their 



3i8 THE WAR IN THE EAST, 

lips. Fortunately, however, the enemy did not follow, and, as re- 
gards the reinforcements, they were even yet too far distant to at- 
tempt pursuit, excepting to a much less extent than could have been 
expected. Down the hill pell-mell the center men came, passing on 
their way their own side trenches nearest the rock. The troops 
which held the trenches in question deserve the highest praise for 
not having joined in the panic — for panic soon it became as the 
alarm spread among the now easily-excited soldiery. Had the Rus- 
sians followed up their advantage and merely made a show of pur- 
suit, the consequences must have been disastrous, as it is not by any 
means improbable that the army nearest the unfortunate center 
would have caught the contagion. Happily, the result was avoided, 
and the beaten soldier, who had been so near the goal, was able to 
rally his men, and kept every one from descending and spreading 
terror among the rest." 

The Russian loss was stated at 31 officers and 1,000 soldiers 
killed and wounded, while, according to the Russian report, not less 
than 3,000 Turkish corpses covered the rocks on the hill. Every- 
thing now remained quiet up to the close of September. With the 
close of the month, Suleiman Pasha, who had taken Mehemet All's 
place, was replaced by Rauf Pasha. 

The Czarevitch, after having abandoned the line of the Lorn 
River in the beginning of September, not being pushed by Mehemet 
Ali, was enabled to occupy strong positions on the Yantra, where 
he could wait for reinforcements. On the 20th of September he 
occupied a line extending from Tcherkovna, about twelve miles south- 
east of Biela, to Pyrgos, on the Danube, presenting a front fully 
twenty-four miles long. His army, which had originally consisted 
of the Tw^elfth and Thirteenth corps, had been reinforced w^ith 
parts of the Eleventh, and probably the entire Second corps. On 
the 2l3t of September Mehemet Ali attacked the Czarevitch on his 
extreme right at Tcherkovna, and here encountered his first check. 
The Russians were posted on both sides of a road connecting Tcher- 
kovna, Yerboka, and Cairkoi, partly on a ridge and partly on the 
slope of the heights which rise on the left bank of the Jordan, a 
small brook flowing into one of the tributaries of the Banicka Lom, 
which empties into the Kara Lom. The Turks were posted on the 
other side of the Jordan, occupying the heights on the right flank, 
at a distance of only three kilometres, or not quite two miles, from 




THE BULGARIAN LEGION DEFENDING THE LUNETTE IN THE SHIPKA PASS. 



THE FALL OF PLEVNA. 



321 



the Russian position. The ])attle is described as follows by the 
correspondent of the London Times : 

" The favorable weather which has suddenly set in made it pos- 
sible for Mehemet Ali to carry out the reconuoissance which it had 
been arranged to make yesterday of the Russian position near Tcher- 
kovna, where the Russians had taken up a strong position in con- 
siderable force, with their main strength on the left wing. This 
was protected by a wood extending from the top to the middle of 
the declivity lining the left bank of the Jordan brook. The inter- 
vening ground is pretty steep, does not afford the slightest cover, 
and makes the task of attacking exceedingly difficult. The Turkish 
aiTangements were made in such a way as to allow them to begin 
the advance at about twelve o'clock. Ten battalions of Hassan 
Pasha's corps were appointed to this task ; a brigade remained in 
reserve and- never came into action at all. At one o'clock the 
Turkish batteries on both sides of the road to the north of Tcher- 
kovna opened fire on the Russian intrenchments situated on the 
ridges to the south-east of Yerboka. The Russians at once replied, 
at first with eight guns from that position. At about half-past one, 
eight more guns were moved up to the same heights, and then began 
a rather furious artillery engagement. At two o'clock a body of Rus- 
sian infantry advanced, under cover of a wood, against the left wing 
of the Turks, but encountered only one battalion, which kept its ground 
till two other battalions, under the command of Riza Pasha, attacked 
the enemy's flank and drove them to a favorable position in the 
rear, where they made a stand. From the rear of the Russian in- 
fantry haK a battery opened fire upon the Turkish troops, and this 
lasted about thirty minutes, when a Turkish battery, likewise from 
behind their own men, gave voice, and attracted the enemy's fire. 

" After, however, the Russians had received strong reinforcements 
in that direction, the Turks, on their part, directed nine Egyptian 
battalions against the Russian right wing, but these did not enter 
into action. For this reason the Turkish left wing could not gain 
any ground. From the Turkish center and right wing then three 
battalions advanced, the center force, under the command of Sifat 
Pasha, against the heights to the east of Yerboka, and the light 
wing against the wood to the north of the village. Then there 
gradually began a furious infantry battle, which grew in intensity, 
until at about six o'clock it reached its highest pitch. The center 



17 



322 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



column advanced as far as Yerboka, and after having been ordered 
four times in vain to retire, had to be led out of the fire bj the 
divisional commander in person. It was apparently not the inten- 
tion of Mehemet Ali to gain ground in the center. ITot less heroic- 
ally did the battalions on the Turkish right wing fight. At half-past 
eight in the evening firing ceased, and the Turks returned to their 
former positions." 

After this defeat, Mehemet Ali, on the 24:th of September, began to 
retreat on his entire line beyond the Lom, and completely stopped 
the forward movement begun four weeks previously. He gave as 
a reason for this unexpected resolution that he had become con- 
vinced of the numerical superiority of his enemy. It was also 
known that he was seriously hindered in his operations by the con- 
tinual disobedience to his orders displayed by his subordinates, 
Achmet Eyub Pasha and Prince Hassan of Egypt. This retreat 
was seized upon in Constantinople as a pretext for his removal, and 
while he was sent to the Servian frontier, Suleiman Pasha was ap- 
pointed in his place. His want of success, however, was due more 
to the fact that the other commanders failed to co-operate with him, 
than to any fault of his own. Osman Pasha, instead of making use 
of the favorable opportunity presented to him after the second Rus- 
sian defeat at Plevna to pursue the completely demoralized Russians 
to the Danube, remained quietly ^in Plevna, and permitted himself 
to be surrounded again. All later efforts of Mehemet Ali to ap- 
proach him from Osman Bazar by way of Timova and to establish 
a communication with him, were left unnoticed by Osman Pasha. 
Suleiman, also, seemed to show but little inclination to render 
Mehemet Ah any aid. After the Russians had retreated from 
Rumelia to the Shipka Pass, Mehemet Ali had desired that Sulei- 
man, after leaving a corps of observation before the Shipka Pass, 
should cross the Balkans with his army, and that having joined 
their forces, they should then defeat the Russian forces at the foot 
of the Balkans, and then establish communication with Osman. 
This plan seemed certainly to be the most correct and most feasible 
one. A decided Turkish success in Bulgaria would make a Russian 
advance in Rumelia impossible. Suleiman, however, instead of act- 
ing upon the plan of the commander-in-chief, undertook those at- 
tacks on the Russian positions in the Shipka Pass, in which he sac- 
rificed fully 10,000 of the best Turkish troops, and which, according 
to the best military authorities, were entirely senseless. 



THE FALL OF PLE VNA. 



323 



In the middle of September a corps made up of troops from 
Widin, Sophia, and [N'issa was gathering at Orkhanie, on ths road 
from Sophia and Plevna, nnder the command of Shevket Pasha. 
Although Kussian and Rumanian cavalry were on this road, Hifzi 
Pasha succeeded, on September 23d, in reaching Plevna with rein- 
forcements amounting to 20 battalions, one regiment of cavalry and 
two batteries, in all 12,000 men, together with a large train of pro- 
visions. ^Later on, the Rumanian cavalry on the west began to be 
more active, and managed, at the close of September, to capture a 
train of ammunition of eighty wagons, while a detachment of Rus- 
sian cavalry destroyed a provision train, capturing 1,000 head of 
cattle. The blockade on the west of Plevna was by no means as 
yet complete. This was proven by the fact that on October 
10th Shevket Pasha again brought a train of provisions and am- 
munition safely into the town, and on the 11th had a conference 
with Osman Pasha there. In order to secure the road to Ork- 
hanie, which is said to be one of the best roads in Turkey, Shevket 
Pasha's troops, about 12,000 strong, occupied its most important 
points and defiles, among them Gorni Dabnik, Telis, and Lukovitza. 

As long as the investment of Plevna could not be effectually car- 
ried out on the west, and Osman Pasha therefore remained in con- 
nection with his friends in Orkhanie and Sophia, the Russians could 
not expect to reduce the post. JThe guards which arrived at the 
headquarters of the Czar, near Gorni Studen, were placed under 
the command of General Gourko, together with two other cavalry 
divisions and one infantry brigade, and this officer was then en- 
trusted with the task of breaking the connection between Plevna 
and Orkhanie. On October 9th, the guards were about seven miles 
north-west of Lovatz. Owing to the bad condition of the roads 
they advanced very slowly, and did not take a position opposite to 
the positions of Hifzi at Gorni Dabnik and Telis until October 23d. 
The Russian cavalry west of Plevna during this period had a few 
skirmishes with the enemy, none of which were of any importance. 
On the morning of the 24th, General Gourko attacked Gorni Dab- 
nik, and after a very fierce conflict, not only took the Turkish posi- 
tion, which was commanded by Hifzi Pasha, but also captured 3,000 
prisoners, four guns, and a whole cavalry regiment. His own loss 
was stated at 2,500 men. Simultaneously with this attack a heavy 
cannonade was opened along the entire line east of Plevna, and dem- 
onstrations were made so as to give the impression of an intended 



324 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



assault, and prevent Osman Pasha sending assistance to Hif zi Pasha. 
Whatever the reason may have been, Osman did not attack Goiirko, 
although the battle took place but nine miles from Plevna, and the 
Pussian right flank was very much exposed. The Pussians were re- 
pulsed at Telis on this day, but this place also surrendered four days 
later. On October 31st, Osman Pasha evacuated Dolni Dabnik, at 
the crossing of the Dabnitza creek and the road from Sophia to 
Plevna, and the Pussians were enabled thereby to advance their 
lines seven miles closer to Plevna. Shevket Pasha, who was stand- 
ing at Padomirze, retreated upon being informed of these events. 
On October 31st, he again advanced against Padomirze, but was de- 
feated after a battle lasting several hours. From this time on the 
investment of Plevna was complete. 

Osman Pasha had surrounded his position with a number of en- 
closed works and redoubts, so formidable as to forbid the attempt to 
capture them by assault, a fact which the Pussians and Pumanians 
had learned to their cost during the battles of early September ; 
and it only remained to maintain the investment till the Turkish 
army should be forced by necessity to surrender. The most impor- 
tant of these works was the Grivitza redoubt, constructed north of 
the village of Grivitza, which was captured by the Pumanians on 
the 30th of August. Southward of the Grivitza redoubt was the 
Padisevo redoubt, commanding the approaches from the south- 
eastward and eastward on the south side of the Sophia-Sistova road. 
On the northern front of the position was Fort Bukova. The fol- 
lowing description of the Pussian and Turkish works was given by 
a correspondent who was with the Pussian army at a late period of 
the siege : 

" Starting from a point on the Plevna-Biela road, about 1,000 
yards west of Grivitza, we are on the other line of works and right 
under the guns of the three Turkish redoubts, connected by galler- 
ies and infantr}^ trenches, defending the approach to Plevna by the 
cJiaussee, the only means of reaching the town from the east, north- 
east, or south-east, as the rivulet on the map running from Tutchen- 
itza through Plevna courses through an impassable ravine, mth per- 
pendicular sides of rock. The line then runs south-west about a 
thousand yards west of Padisevo, and so on in the same direction 
until it reaches the ravine above mentioned. On the western side 
of this ravine we start from the point where the Lovatz road bends 
to the eastward, thence westward between Brestovatz and Kirshine 



THE FALL OF PLEVNA. 



325 



to a point 2,000 yards from the Lovatz road ; thence north-west be- 
tween Blagivas and Olcagas to the river Yid. Crossing the Yid wo 
go due north to a point in front and east of Etropol, thencje north- 
east to the Yid, just beyond Oponetz, and from this place we pass 
north of Bukova, and south-easterly to the starting-point on the 
Grivitza chaussee. From the Grivitza ridge round to the position 
between Brestovatz and Kirshine the Russian lines are higher than 
the Turkish. From this point to the Yid the latter are higher, but 
in a very slight degree, while from the Yid round to the Grivitza 
ridge again the Turkish intrenchments are generally more elevated. 
There are between twenty and twenty-five closed redoubts on the 
Moslem line, with innumerable rifle trenches, batteries, and covered 
ways. The allied lines have been gradually advanced nearer and 
nearer to those of the Turks, and with each advance a new line of 
intrenchments has been constructed, so that all the intervening 
spaces between the first and the present alHed lines is bristling with 
parapets. There is no place on the line where close siege operations 
have been carried on, excepting at the Grivitza redoubt, where the 
Rumanians have sapped up to the neighboring Turkish earthwork. 
The lines are within close rifle range at other parts of the circum- 
vallation, and the gradual exhaustion of Osman Pasha's supplies is 
thus awaited. The line of circumvallation around Plevna is fully 
thirty miles in length, but the conformation of the ground is such 
that it is not necessary to have the divisions in actual contact at all 
points. The guns of the allies are mounted generally en tarhette ; 
those of the Turks are all in embrasures. The Rumanian earthworks 
present a more technically correct appearance than those of the Rus- 
sians, the lines and slopes of the former conforming strictly to the 
drawings laid down in works on military engineering. Their para- 
pets also have a much higher command than those of the Muscovites. 
Enough spade work has been done around Plevna to build many 
miles of railway embankment, and iron enough thrown away to 
furnish the rails." 

On the 9th of l^ovember Skobeleff captured the Green Hills, a 
mountain south of Plevna, after having occupied Brestovatz on the 
5th. 

To the west of Plevna the Russians continued to advance rapidly. 
During the month of jSTovember Mehemet Ali collected an army at 
Sophia, which, together with the army stationed at Orkhanie, under 
Shakir Pasha, who had succeeded Shevket Pasha, seemed in the be- 



326 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



giiiiiing to threaten the Eussians, and to offer a chance for the relief 
of Plevna. The princijDal events, ^vest of Plevna, during the month 
of November, were as f oUoavs : 

On Xov. 1st, one brigade of the Thu-d infantry division took the 
city of Teteven by storm. This city is situated about fifty miles 
south-west of Plevna, and is of considerable importance, as it is con- 
nected with Slatitza by a pass across the Balkans. On Xov. 9th, a 
detached cavalry corps, consisting of three regiments of guards, under 
the command of Gen. Leonoff, attacked and captm-ed Yratza, situ- 
ated on the road from Sophia to Rahova, and a place of considerable 
impoii:ance, in that it afforded facilities for threatening the commu- 
nications of Sophia and "Widin. An important advantage was gained 
on the Danube by the capture of Eahova by the Pumanians on Xov. 
22d, after a battle reported to have continued for three days. But 
the main object of the Eussian operations was to capture Orkhanie, 
and then make a demonstration against Sophia. In order to accom- 
phsh these objects it was necessary, in the first place, to take the two 
important positions of Pravetz and Etropol. For this purpose the 
Eussians, on ISTov. 21st and 22d, left Yablonitza, the furthest of their 
advanced points on the Plevna-Orkhanie road, in two columns, nnder 
Gren. Count Shuvaloff" and Gen. Eauch, for Pravetz. which was taken 
on Nov. 23d. Dming the entire engagement the detachment at 
Yratza made a pretended demonstration against Orkhanie, and two 
Eussian infantry divisions a similar one against Etropol, in order to 
keep the Tm-kish forces at those points engaged. Etropol was also 
taken on the 24th. These successes decreased still more the ability 
of Mehemet Ali to relieve Plevna. After the capture of Pravetz, 
the Turks abandoned Xovatchin, Skrivena, and Orkhanie, and on 
the 29th they also evacuated Yraktchesh. Gen. Ellis immediately 
started in pursuit, and on Dec. 1st, occupied strong positions in the 
mountains opposite to Arab Konak. 

Before proceeding to describe the fall of Plevna, it will be well to 
see what Suleiman Pasha had done to relieve Osman Pasha. 
Suleiman's forces, composing the army of Shumla, and consisting 
almost entu'ely of trained veterans, was far better cpialified to come 
to the relief of Osman, than the raw recruits of which, for the most 
part, the armies of Orkhanie and Sophia were composed. During 
the month of October, Suleiman kept entu^ely on the defensive, 
while his opponent, the Czare\fitch, undertook several reconuois- 
sances. During one of these, Prince Sergius of Leuchtenberg was 



THE FALL OF PLEVNA. 



327 



killed, the only member of the Eussian Imperial family that had 
fallen during the war. During the eariy part of Xovember both 
armies on the Lom kept comparatively quiet. Finally, on Xov. 19th, 
Suleiman proceeded to take the offensive, and made a demonstration 
from Kadikoi against the extreme left of the Czarevitch's army. On 
the 19th, the troops stationed at Kadikoi crossed the Lom in three 
columns at Bassarbova, Krasna, and Yovan Chiftlik. They forced 
the Kussian outposts, standing at Pyrgos, to retreat, then destroyed 
Pyrgos, but were subsequently forced back beyond the Lom. On 
the 26th, Suleiman again crossed the Lom, near Kadikoi, and 
attacked the Pussian positions at Metchka and Tirstenik, but was 
again repulsed on all points. Shortly after these events, Suleiman 
moved his headquarters to Osman Bazar, and gathered a considerable 
army. The strength of this force is not known, although its left 
wing, which was the strongest, was estimated by the Pussians at 
from 30,000 to 40,000 men. The estimate may have been exagger- 
ated, but the forces collected at this point were certainly of con- 
siderable strength. On Dec. 3d, the army of Suleiman began to ad- 
vance in three columns. The left column, comprising the greater 
part of the force, advanced against Elena and Slataritza ; the center 
marched from Osman Bazar on the main road against Kesrova, and 
the right wing moved from Sarnasuflar to Popkoi. The movements 
against Kesrova and Popkoi were of a demonstrative character only, 
and that against Popkoi in particular was conducted with a very 
weak force. The main column, under Fuad Pasha, on the morning 
of the 4th surprised the Pussian advanced positions at Bebrova and 
Marian, and forced detachments which held them to retreat in much 
disorder. The reinforcements which, were immediately sent from 
Elena, were unable to change the situation, and were also forced to 
retreat with considerable losses. The strength of the Turks and the 
disorder among the Pussians seemed to be so great, that Prince 
Mirsky, the Pussian commander, found himself unable to hold his 
positions, and had to evacuate even Elena. Three miles west of 
Elena, at Jakovitza, he made a stand, and gathered the remnants of 
his army. The Turks did not advance beyond Elena, although a 
column belonging to their left wing penetrated beyond Bebrova to 
Slataritza. On the 5th, the Turks kept up a cannonade, but did not 
attack the Pussians directly, and Gen. Dellino'-hausen, commanding 
the Eleventh army coi-ps, was enabled to bring up reinforcements. 
He arrived at Jakovitza on the morning of the 6th. Immediately 



328 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



upon his arrival the Turks proceeded to attack the position, but 
were repulsed. Suleiman did not repeat the attack, and desisted from 
his attempt to advance upon Tirnova, although he continued to 
hold Elena for a short time. 

The operations against Plevna came to an end on December 10th, 
the one hundred and forty-fourth day after the first arrival of 
Osman Pasha, forty-five days after its complete investment, and 
two months after the arrival of the last supply train. On that day 
Osman Pasha attempted a sortie to the west, but after a fierce con- 
test was forced to surrender. This final contest was described as 
follows by General Todleben, in his ofiicial report to the Grand 
Duke JSTicholas, on the investment and capture of Plevna, as pub- 
lished in the Invalide JRusse : 

" Already, during the night, the patrols of cavalry reported a 
great concentration of Turkish troops upon the Yid. The attack of 
the Turks commenced about half-past seven in the morning. Our 
advanced line fell back before them. Major-General Daniloff, of 
the staif of the Emperor, and commanding the Third division of 
Grenadiers, ordered the Second battery of the Third brigade of 
artillery, which occupied the battery in position ]^o. 3, to open fire, 
and the Tenth regiment of Grenadiers of Little Russia to march in 
the direction of Kopany-Moguila. The Second brigade, with its 
batteries, was also sent from Gorni I^etropol. 

" While these orders were being executed, there was already light 
enough to see the Turkish troops which had concentrated in front 
of us during the night, and which were followed by a train line 
of wagons of all kinds. The Tm-ks, having opened fire from their 
guns planted upon the heights near the bridge, and along the Yid 
to some distance below the bridge, rapidly deployed their forces, 
taking advantage of the fog which covered the plain on both sides 
of the river, and of a long strip of high ground which was in front 
of the bridge, and which sheltered the numerous troops massed 
there during the niglit. 

" The attack of the enemy upon the trenches occupied by the 
Third division of Grenadiers was characterized by an extraordinary 
impetuosity. Forward marched the thick lines of skirmishers, im- 
mediately followed by deployed battalions, behind which came the 
reserves. The artillery followed the skirmishers, advancing rapidly, 
stopping occasionally to throw us a shell, and then hastening to re- 
join the skirmishers. 



THE FALL OF PLEVNA. 



33T 



" In spite of tlie rapidity? of the fire from our guns, and in spite 
of tlie fire of the infantry posted in the intrenchinents, the Turks 
trav^ersed in less than three-quarters of an liour the distance which 
separated them from our position, and reached our iine of defense 
which was occupied near battery I^o. 3 by a portion of the troops 
of the Third division of Grenadiers. The enemy, penetrating into 
the interstices of the intrenchments, after having killed all those 
who were defending them, found but a few survivors, w^ho, being 
too feeble to resist the attack, commenced to fall back. When the 
trenches of work I^o. 3 had been occupied by the enemy, and the 
greater portion of the men of the Second battery had been sabred 
at their guns, the survivors could only succeed in getting out of this 
earthwork two guns, carrying away the breech-screws of the six 
other pieces. 

" Then, at half-past eight o'clock in the morning, the troops occu- 
P3'ing the central position — the Second battalion, with the second 
and third companies of skirmishers — having lost a large number of 
men and many ofiicers, commenced to fall back upon Kopany- 
Moguila, and upon the left lunette. The Third battery of the 
Third brigade of Grenadiers, artillery, which occupied work ITo. 4, 
was able to hold out some time longer, throwing grape upon the 
Turks ; but, finding themselves threatened ' by a flank movement 
upon the right, they abandoned the position, and were only able to 
carry away six guns, the horses of the two others having been 
killed. 

" The Tenth regiment of Grenadiers of Little Russia, having 
arrived upon the field of battle while the regiment of Siberia was 
engaged with the enemy, was formed in companies and advanced 
by the interstice between lunette four and Kopany-Moguila. Hav- 
ing rallied the regiment of Siberia, the Little Russians checked the 
advance of the enemy, but this cost them heavy losses. In a few 
moments three commanders of battalions and one-half of the cap- 
tains were placed hors du combat. 

" The furious attack of the enemy became more and more threat- 
ening. The First brigade of the Third division of Grenadiers was 
exhausted by the efforts it made to defend the lunettes. Eight of 
our guns had fallen into the hands of the enemy, and the Second 
brigade of the Third division of Grenadiers had not yet arrived to 
the support of the First. It arrived, however, toward ten o'clock 
in the morning, and at the same moment the news was received 



332 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



that the Eighth regiment Grenadiers of Moscow and the Seventh 
of the Grenadiers of Samogitia, of the Second division of Grena- 
diers, were approaching fhe positions defended by the Third 
division. The arrival of these reinforcements secured for us a 
favorable issue of the struggle, and rendered it impossible for the 
enemy to succeed in his attempt to break through. A loud hurrah, 
which burst forth at about half-past ten o'clock, told us that the 
Second brigade of the Third division of Grenadiers had just at- 
tacked our trenches, which were then occupied by the Turks. Hav- 
ing dislodged the enemy from the two lunettes, the Grenadiers of 
Astrakhan and Phanagoria, sustained by those of Siberia and Little 
Russia, continued to advance rapidly, without paying any attention 
to the losses which they sustained by the murderous fire of the 
Turks, whom they dislodged and drove from the trenches at the 
point of the bayonet. Our guns, which had fallen into their hands, 
were retaken, and the Grenadiers of Astrakhan captured, in a hand- 
to-hand fight, seven Turkish guns and one standard. Two bat- 
talions of the Eighteenth regiment of Yologda operated upon the 
Turkish flank with the aid of a Eumanian battery. At the moment 
of the attack of the Second brigade of the Third division of Gren- 
adiers, the Seventh regiment of Grenadiers of Samogitia, under 
the orders of Lieutenant-General Svetcliine, commander of the 
Second division of Grenadiers, deployed in the interstice between 
Gorni and Dolni l!^etropol. Attacking the enemy with the bayonet, 
the Grenadiers of Samogitia chased the Turks from their intrench- 
ments without firing a single shot, and having put them to flight, 
captured three guns. 

"After having again occupied the advance hues, our troops 
halted for a moment. It was nearly noon when the Turks com- 
menced slowly to retreat upon the Yid, while they continued to 
direct upon us a well-sustained fire. The guns taken from the 
Turks, not having been disabled by their artillerymen, were turned 
against them and served by infantry soldiers. At the same time all 
the batteries of the Third brigade of artillery, having been brought 
forward and placed in position upon the same line with our in- 
fantry, opened upon the enemy a terrible fire with case-shot, which 
changed the retreat of the Turks into a rout. They became massed 
into disordered groups near the bridge of the Yid pell-mell with the 
wagons, of which there were a great number upon the roadside. In 
the face of this complete disorganization of his army and his im- 



THE FALL OF PLEVNA. 



333 



mense losses, Osmau Pasha could no longer even think of renewing 
his attempt to pierce through, especially as the troops of the other 
sectors of investment had advanced, and as the arrival of the Six- 
teenth division of infantry made his complete defeat a certainty. 

" Soon our troops commenced the attack along the whole line. 
The division of General Daniloff advanced in front, sustained upon 
the left flank, in the neighborhood of Gorni IsTetropol, by the First 
brigade of the Fifth division of infantry, and upon the right by 
the Second brigade of the Second division of Grenadiers. The 
First brigade of the Second division of Grenadiers coming out 
of the trenches, proceeded to tarn the left flank of the Turks. 
Moreover, the Second battalion of the Fifth Grenadiers of Kiev, 
and a battalion of the Sixth Grenadiers of Taurida, were marched 
toward the Yid, which they forded to occupy the heights on tlie 
right bank. The Grenadiers having crossed the river, with the 
water up to their waists, scaled the heights of Blasevats, and threw 
themselves upon the redoubt which crowned those heights, and the 
garrison of which surrendered without firing a shot. The brigades 
of the Third division of the Guard, and of the Sixteenth division 
of infantry of the line, which were sent, according to the orders 
which I had given the day before, to support the corps of Gen- 
eral Ganyetzky, did not participate in the battle. 

" While the Second and Third divisions of Grenadiers heroically 
repulsed the attack of the whole Turkish army, the other troops of 
the army of investment, under the command of Lieutenant-Generals 
Zotoff, Baron Kriidener and Kataley, and Major-General Shnitnikoff 
and General Cernat, wdio commanded the Rumanian corps, advanced 
upon the Turkish fortifications fronting the east and south. The great- 
er portion of these works had already been evacuated, and the troops 
occupied the town of Plevna in presence of your Imperial Highness. 

" After having entered the place, the troops, with your Imperial 
Highness at their head, received the order to continue to advance in 
the direction of the Yid, upon the rear of the enemy, and they con- 
centrated little by little upon the heights to the west of Plevna, near 
the Sophia road. 

"The Eumanian troops, with whom was his Highness Prince 
Charles, from that morning met with resistance at the redoubt of 
Oponetz, which the enemy still occupied. After a shoi't struggle, 
the garrisons of these works threw down their arms, and tlie Euma- 
nians captured their guns and 2,000 prisoners. 



334 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



" Gen. Kataley having remained upon the right bank of the Yid 
with the remainder of the Third division of infantry of the Guard, 
perceiving the retreat of the Turks in the direction of the river, re- 
solved to capture the redoubt facing the Yolhynie mountain, in order 
to cut off all chances of retreat by the enemy upon the fortified 
camp. At 11 : 30 o'clock the Eed redoubt was occupied without 
resistance, and soon afterward the redoubt of Mohammed Tobia sur- 
rendered after a short resistance. Toward one o'clock, after a short 
fusillade, the Black redonbt and that of the Sugarloaf were also 
taken. In these redoubts the soldiers of the Guard made prisoners 
of one Pasha, 120 officers, and 3,734 men, with four guns. On their 
side they had three men killed and fifteen wounded. 

" Enclosed by superior forces, the Tm-ks could no longer continue 
the fight, and consequently they sent a flag of truce, and the chief 
of the staff of the Turkish army, who presented himseK to General 
Ganyetzky and told him that Osman Pasha was wounded, and de- 
sired to know the conditions of capitulation. Gen. Ganyetzky de- 
manded an unconditional surrender of the entire army. Osman 
Pasha consented, and Gen. Ganyetzky went personally to his brave 
and wounded adversary. 

" There surrendered during that memorable day of the 28th of 
November (December 10th, new style), 10 Pashas, 130 superior offi- 
cers, 2,000 subaltern officers, 40,000 soldiers and gunners, and 1,200 
cavalry. We took guns and an immense quantity of munitions, 
especially cartridges. The enemy lost during the battle nearly 
6,000 men. 

" On our side the Second and Third divisions of Grenadiers suf- 
fered the following losses : Killed, two superior officers, seven sub- 
altern officers, and 409 men ; wounded, one general, three superior 
officers, 4Y subaltern officers, and 1,263 men. 

" The First brigade of the Fifth division of infantry had one offi- 
cer and 47 men wounded. 

Speaking of Osman's reception by the Russians, the Daily New^ 
correspondent says : 

" Grand Duke Mcholas rode np to Osman's carriage, and for 
some seconds the two chiefs gazed into each other's faces without 
the utterance of a word. Then the Grand Duke stretched out his 
hand, shook the hand of Osman heartily, and said : ' I compliment 
you on your defense of Plevna. It is one of the most splendid 



THE FALL OF PLEVNA. 



military feats in history.' Osman smiled sadly, rose painfully to 
his feet in spite of his wound, and said something which I could not 
hear. He then reseated himself. The Russian officers all cried 
^ Bravo ! ' ' Bravo ! ' repeatedly, and all saluted respectfully. 
There was not one among them who did not gaze on the hero of 
Plevna with the greatest admiration and sympathy. Prince Charles 
of Eumania, who had arrived, rode np, and repeated, unwittingly, 
almost every word of the Grand Duke, and likewise shook hands 
with Osman, who again rose and bowed, this time in grim silence. 
He wore a loose blue cloak, with no apparent mark on it to desig- 
nate his rank, and a red fez. He is a large, strongly-bnilt man. 
The lower part of his face is covered with a short, black beard, with- 
out a streak of gray, and he has a large Roman nose and black eyes. 
'It is a grand face,' exclaimed Colonel Gaillard, the French military 
attache. ' I was ahnost afraid of seeing him, lest my expectation 
should be disappointed ; but he more than fulfills my ideal. It is 
the face of a great military chieftain.' Said yonng SkoLeleff : ' I 
am glad to have seen him. Osman Ghazi he is, and Osman the 
victorious he will remain, in spite of his surrender.' " 

Osman had certainly done all that could be required of him. 
Coming from a direction to which the Russians had neglected to 
pay any attention, he had occupied the town of Plevna almost be- 
fore the Russians knew that he was on the way. He had inflicted 
three severe defeats upon the Russians, had changed an open town into 
a fortress, proving himself in this respect fully a match for Todleben, 
and had kept up communication for a long time with Sophia and 
Widin, whence he drew his supplies. It was not until the latter part 
of October, when the Russian Guards and Grenadiers arrived at the 
seat of war, that the Russians began to operate with success. Osman 
was now completely cut off from the outside world, and General 
Todleben's plan of reducing the garrison by starvation, could be 
carried into effect. It was Osman's work that the army of invasion 
was brought to a standstill for over four months. He had engaged 
an army three and four times as large as his own in a direction 
entirely aside of the main line of invasion, and thus gained for his 
Government time to raise new armies, and to complete the works of 
fortification. By his defense of Plevna he had raised the military 
reputation of Turkey, which had begun to wane in consequence of 
the continued Turkish reverses. He had also inflicted a loss upon 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



the Russians and Rumanians, amounting to not less than 30,000 to 
35,000 killed and wounded, the killed in all' probability not amount- 
ing to less than 15,000. 

The suffering among the Turks in Plevna was described as very 
great by all accounts. The special correspondent of the Daily 
JSFews, with General Gourko, who visited Plevna immediately after 
its surrender, states that the awful misery and wretchedness found 
within the narrow limits of that place could not be pictured even by 
those who had become familiar with the varied mcidents of the 
siege. Such ghastly horrors have hardly been paralleled since the 
days of the plague, in past centuries. When Osman Pasha at- 
tempted his sortie, he made no provision for the sick and wounded 
in the place, of whom there were thousands, and the Russians did 
not at first attend to them. It was not until the morning of the 
third day that something was done. The dead were then separated 
from the living, with which they were crowded in small, unventilated, 
pestilential rooms, and food was given to those who were still alive. 
Many, however, died while eating it, the effort being too great for 
their waning strength. The removal of the dead was at once com- 
menced, and was still going on, but with most inadequate means, 
only three ox-carts and a score or so of men being employed. The 
brutality with which the work was being performed is described as 
terrible to witness. The correspondent blames tlie Russians for 
being unprepared to deal with the sick and wounded, whom they 
knew beforehand they would find in Plevna, and says that a month 
before the place fell proper officers should have been appointed to 
prepare everything for the care of the surrendered troops. 

On December 11th, the day after the surrender of Plevna, the 
Czar paid a visit to the town, riding through the streets, and lunched 
in a small house, where Osman Pasha was presented to him. The 
scene is thus described by an eye-witness : " "When Osman Pasha 
was brought before the Emperor, he was carried by a Cossack officer 
and one of his attendants. On passing through the yard to the 
house in which the Czar was lunching in Plevna, many of the staff 
who were breakfasting, rose from their tables and saluted the brave 
General, crying, ' Bravo ! bravo ! Osman.' The Pasha acknowledged 
the compliment by nodding and smiling." The Czar shook hands 
with the captive General, and told him that, in consideration of his 
brave defense of Plevna, he had given orders that his sword should 
be returned to him, and that he could wear it. 



THE MEETING BETWEEN OSMAN PASHA, THE GRAND DUKE NICHOLAS, 
AND PRINCE CHARLES OF RUMANIA. 



CHAPTER yil. 



THE SECOND CAMPAiaN IN ARMENIA. 

A Summer's rest in Asia— Position of the Armies— The Russians again approach Kara 
—Battles of Kisil Tepe, Tagni, and Aladja Dagh— Retreat of Mukhtar Pasha— Ad- 
vance of Gen. TergukassofE on the Southern line— Battle of Deve Boyun, before 
Erzcrum — Capture of Kars. 

Foe several weeks after the retreat of the Russian armies from 
their advanced positions in Turkish Armenia, no events happened 
that changed the strategical situation. During July all of the 
Russian columns retired to near the positions from which thej had 
set out in April, and there waited for reinforcements, from 
the boundary line between Russian and Turkish Territory to 
Orzugeti, near Poti and Fort St. Nicholas ; Gen. Loris Melikoff in 
front of Alexandropol, and facing Kars and the army of Mukhtar 
Pasha ; and Gen. Tergukassoff in the neighborhood of Igdir, where he 
confronted the Turkish right wing, which now held Bayazid. The 
enemy likewise did little to disturb the mid-summer quiet, their 
most noteworthy movement being an attempt to retake Ardahan, 
which Gen. Komaroif held fast against them. In the meantime they 
diligently improved the opportunity aiiorded them to re-provision 
Kars and strengthen the fortifications of Bayazid. Mukhtar Pasha 
established his headquarters at Sabatan, one of the ancient 
capitals of Armenia, while his army, numbering forty battalions, was 
encamped in fortified positions on the northern slopes of the 
Aladja Mountains, near Yisinkoi. A few skirmishes took place 
between the centers in July. About the middle of the month the 
Russians crossed the frontier to a point near their old camp at 
Zaim, whence they attacked the Turks. Reinforcements began to 
arrive in the latter days of July, during which the Russians continued 
their reconnoissances in front of the Turkish positions, which, how- 
ever, led to no important results. At the beginning of August, 
Gen. Melikofi" moved his line around, so as to extend his left to near 
the ruins of Ani, another of the ancient capitals of the country, on 
the Arpa Tchai River, about twelve miles south-east of Kars, and 
threatened the Turkish right, while his center was established opposite 

(339) 



340 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



the Turkisli headquarters, and his right at Knrukdara, about six 
miles north of his center. The central camp at Bash Kadiklar 
was situated in the plain, near one of the roads from Kars to 
Alexandropol, and was the scene, in the Crimean war, of an im- 
portant battle, in which the Russians defeated the considerably 
superior forces of the Turks. To the south and south-west of it lay 
the camp of Mukhtar Pasha, spread along the flanks of the mount- 
ains. I^early half way to the Turkish position were three extinct 
craters, which were occupied by the Russian troops, and still closer to 
the mountains was another eminence, which had been strongly 
fortified by the Turks. One of the intervening hills was Kisil Tepe, 
which later in the month was the object of a hardly-contested bat- 
tle. A reconnoissance in force was made by the Russians against 
Kars on the 18th of August, the object of the demonstration being, 
according to the Russian accounts, to divert attention from some 
contemplated movements of Gen. Tergukassoff. An engagement of 
several hours' duration took place, at the end of which the Russians 
withdrew, in accordance, as they professed, with their previously 
arranged plans. The fighting was renewed on the next day, and 
was sustained with spirit on both sides until dusk, when the Rus- 
sians fell back in good order. 

On the 25th of August the Turks made an attack on the Russians 
for the purpose of gaining possession of the heights of Kisil Tepe. 
This position was an important one to either army, standing directly 
in front of the Russian camp at Kadiklar, and forming an excellent 
point from which to direct ofi*ensive operations against the Turkish 
camp on the opposite side of it. ISTotwithstanding its value was well 
known, the Russians had had possession of it for a month without 
making any effort to fortify it. On the 24th of August, Gen. Meli- 
kofi's force was weakened by the dispatch of Gen. Dewell with a 
part of the command to the assistance of Gen. Tergukassoff, and in 
consequence the strength of the advance guard on Kisil Tepe Avas 
reduced. An artillery force was ordered to go to the support of the 
guard, but the artillerists delayed moving till morning. At about 
three o'clock on the morning of the 25th, a band of Circassian 
cavalry advanced up the hill, and were challenged by the Russian 
sentinels. This force, it was reported in the Russian camp, was 
commanded by a woman, the daughter of an Arab Sheik, who was 
killed in the battle. The Circassians, who had obtained the Rus- 
sian watchword, answered correctly in Russian to the challenge of 



THE SECOND CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, 341 

tlie sentinels. While the Russians were hesitating whether to fire, 
the Circassians opened their ranks and exposed a force of Turkish 
infantry and artillery which had been concealed, and at the same 
time an active fusillade was directed upon the guard. In half an 
hour the hill was in possession of the Turks, and they were put- 
ting their guns into position. At daybreak the Turks opened a 
sudden fire upon the Russian camp, to the great surprise of its oc- 
cupants. Gen. Tchavtchavadze was sent to retake the hill; he 
was wounded, and Gen. SheremetyefiT took the command in his 
place. He was finally compelled to retire from a position of ad- 
vantage that he had gained, when the whole army was led to the 
assault. The battle raged fiercely during the afternoon. The Turks 
made several efiPorts to take the Russian camp at Kurukdara, a few 
miles north of the point of battle, but were defeated on each oc- 
casion. The tents at this camp had, however, all been taken up, 
and everything had been made ready for immediate removal, which, 
fortunately for the Russians, did not become necessary. The Turks 
kept the hill which they had gained, but were not able to drive the 
Russians from any other of their positions. They claimed to have 
captured a considerable quantity of arms and ammunition. The Rus- 
sians acknowledged a loss of 1,00T men. The affair was very 
creditable to the Turks, as it showed their ability to fight well on 
the ofiensive, and in the open country, as well as behind earth- 
works. On the day following the battle of Kisil Tepe, August 26th, 
the Grand Duke Michael arriYed at the Russian camp and took 
command in person, leaving to Gen. Melikoff the execution of his 
orders. On the 30th of August the Turkish quarters were pushed 
forward close up to the positions which the Russians had occupied. 

Gen. Tergukassoff, although he had received reinforcements which 
swelled his command to 25,000 men, remained during August in 
the position near Igdir, which he had taken immediately after his 
retreat from Armenia, where he for a long time kept himself on the 
defensive. His forces were so posted that he was able to command 
most of the important roads of the region, particularly those lead- 
ing from Bayazid and Erivan to Alexandropol, and the roads which 
diverge eastwardly from the Erivan-Bayazid road and converge in. 
this neighborhood. His army presented a line of about ten miles, 
in length, intrenched upon the high plain of Igdir, with the Araxes 
River about a day's march in his rear, and lay close upon the north- 
ern foot of the boundary-hills between Russia and Turkey. His 



342 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



adversary, Ismail Fasha, the Kurd, with about 47 battalions, 50 
gnns, and 12,000 irregular Kurdish cavalry, occupied positions 
opposite to him, also on Eussian territory, grouped around the 
passes through which the roads from Bayazid and Diadin to Tgdir 
cross the boundary-hills, while his reserves occupied the heights of 
Tchingili, close upon the border. The Turks made several attacks 
upon the Russian lines during August and September, which were 
not attended by any noteworthy results. An attack was made upon 
the whole Russian line on the 5th of August, which was continued 
in skirmishes for several days. The affair was followed by a slight 
change in the positions of both armies, Gen. Tergukassoff drawing 
back a part of his line, and Ismail making movements indicating 
an intention to concentrate his forces in the direction of the narrow 
defile of Mysye. The Turks resumed the offensive toward the end 
of the month, when a number of skirmishes took place, all in Rus- 
sian territory, in which the assailants were generally defeated. An 
attack upon both the advance guard and the right wing of the Rus- 
sians on the 18th of September, was defeated. Another attack was 
made on the 27th against the Russian right wing, commanded by 
Gen. Dewell. 

The impression was allowed to go out at the beginning of the 
second campaign by the Russians, that the Erivan column was about 
to resume the offensive in connection with that from Alexandropol, 
and the fact that Gen. Dewell had been sent down to join Gen. 
Tergukassoff,- and had to be recalled after the battle of Kisil Tepe, 
strengthened this belief. If such a purpose was entertained by the 
Russians, it was given up after the battle of Kisil Tepe. The sub- 
sequent movements of that campaign indicate that it was not de- 
signed that Gen. Tergukassoff should advance at once, but that the 
purpose was to keep him at Igdir with a threatening force, so as to 
keep Ismail Pasha and his Kurds employed, and guard the left flank 
of the Alexandropol column from attack by them while it executed 
the real object of the campaign in the direct movement against Kars 
and the main army of Mukhtar Pasha. In harmony with this plan, 
a large part of Gen. Tergukassoff's force was withdrawn from him 
when it was needed to strengthen the Alexandropol column for the 
important work it was to perform in October. The persistent 
attacks of Ismail Pasha, which were nearly always made against 
Tergukassoff's right wing, had for their object to break his commu- 
nication with Gen. Mehkoff 's division. Gen. Melikoff received the 



THE SECOND CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. 



343 



full complement of the reinforcements which he was expecting toward 
the end of September, and was ready by the 1st of October to begin 
offensive operations in earnest. The weather was still favorable, 
but the season was fast approaching when active operations could 
not be prosecuted. The contemplated movements must be begun 
without delay, if the Kussians would secure any advantages in 
Armenia before the close of the year. 

The Turkish line w^as stretched out to a length greatly out of 
proportion to the strength of its force. It extended from the 
Yagni hills on the Alexandropol-Kars road, south-eastwardly over 
the Aladja Dagh, twenty miles to the Arpa Tchai River, which at 
this point forms the boundary line between Turkey and Russia. A 
triangular group of posts stretched out six miles in front of the 
main line occupied the heights of Hadjiveli, Sabatan, and Kisil 
Tepe. The -last of these points proved to be particularly exposed to 
the attacks of the Russians, demanded the services of a detachment of 
troops which could be of no advantage to the main work of defense, 
and in effect weakened the Turkish lines and increased their dan- 
gers. This line was intended to cover all the ways by which Kars 
could be reached by the invading force. Its important points were 
the Yagni hills, the Olya Tepe, and the Aladja Dagh. The Yagni 
hills are the Little Yagni Tepe and the Yagni Tepe, standing on 
either side of the Alexandropol-Kars road, the first rising some 
seven or eight hundred feet above the surrounding hills, and about 
6,Y60 feet above the sea, and the latter being much higher. These 
hills were occupied by the left of the Turks, and their possession 
gave the control of the road. The Olya Tepe lies between the 
Yagni hills and the Aladja Dagh, rising about one thousand feet 
above the neighboring hills, and, with the Great Yagni, covers the 
road to the important point of Yisinkoi, which was the real key to 
the Turkish position. The Aladja Dagh is a large range about 
eighteen miles south-east of Kars, its eastern decHvities sloping 
down to the Arpa Tchai below Ani. Its northern slopes were 
dotted with the tents of Mukhtar Pasha's army. The Russians 
saw that if they could gain possession of the Yagni hills, they would 
not only completely disarrange the Turkish left wing, but would also 
be able to establish themselves in the valley through which the 
Yisinkoi road runs, and be in a position whence they might hope to 
succeed in separating the right wing from Kars. It was accordingly 
decided to make a combined movement for the purpose of attacking 



344 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



these hills and flanking the Turkish right wing. It was aiTanged 
that while the right and center attacked the enemy in front, and 
forced its way through between the Great Yagni and Olya Tepe, 
another body should attempt an advance in the rear of the Aladja 
Dagh. 

The attack was begun on Tuesday morning, the 2d of October, 
with an assault upon the Great Yagni. The Turks seem to have 
been taken by surprise, and the battalion with which they held the 
hill was cut to pieces or captured after an obstinate resistance. The 
time during which this body engaged the attention of the Eussians 
was well improved by the rest of the Turkish force in preparation to 
make a more effective resistance, so that the Eussians found that 
they had still a day of hard fighting and even disaster before them. 
The Little Yagni was found to be so strongly fortified that an attempt 
to assault it was considered premature. Eepeated assaults were made 
on either side, in which, while the Eussians held the ground they 
had aheady obtained, they were not able to make any further ad- 
vances. They fortified themselves in the positions they had occu- 
pied, and bivouacked at night on the Great Yagni. A feint attack 
was made on the same day on the hill of Kisil Tepe, and was re- 
pulsed. The flank movement against the Turkish right, which was 
made in connection with these attacks, was undertaken with a force 
less than half of what had been contemplated in the original plan of 
the battle. Marching from the Arpa Tchai near Ani, the flanking 
force attempted to get between the Turks on the Aladja Dagh and 
Kars. The movement came very near succeeding, and the Eussians 
had at one time actually put themselves in the desired position, where 
they were met by Hussein Hami Pasha with three brigades, and driven 
back to the Arpa Tchai. On Friday, the 6th of October, the Eus- 
sians evacuated their positions at the Great Yagni, and fell back to 
Karajal, in the immediate vicinity of their old headquarters at Kur- 
ukdara. The losses of both parties in these three days' engagements 
were severe. The Turks acknowledged a loss of about 2,500 men. 

The plan of the Eiissian operations was revealed by this move- 
ment aad those which followed it, to be, not so much to defeat the 
Turks in pitched battles, as to take advantage of their exposed posi- 
tions, annoy them at their weaker points, and involve them in daily 
engagements so as to wear tlieir force away slowly, but surely, and 
reduce them to so weak a condition that ultimately they should find 
it impossible to offer further serious resistance. They were helped by 



THE SECOND CAMPAICN IN ARMENIA, 



345 



the exigencies of the Turks in Europe, which made it necessary to 
dispatch a part of Mukhtar Pasha's forces to the assistance of their 
hard-pressed armies in Bulgaria. 

Mukhtar Pasha perceived that the holding of his more advanced 
and exposed positions was disadvantageous to him, and undertook to 
put his forces into a more compact shape. During the night of the 
8th of October, he abandoned the Kisil Tepe and the other positions 
which he held in front of his main line, and readjusted his forces, so 
that on the next morning the little Yagni hill was held by a brig- 
ade, and Yisinkoi by a division, while the commander-in-chief, with 
the main army, consisting of thirty-three battalions, occupied the 
slopes of the Aladja Dagh above Kharkana, with a detached post on 
the Olya Tepe, connecting Yisinkoi with the main camp. On the 
9th, the Russians advanced, and occupied Kisil Tepe, Sabatan, Had- 
jiveli, and the eastern slopes of the Great Yagni. They made artil- 
lery attacks on the Turks during the next two days, resulting in 
severe losses on both sides. " The Turkish camp now (October 
12th)," says an English correspondent who wrote from Erzerum a 
few days afterward, " had the appearance of being besieged ; their 
whole front, extending from the Little Yagni to the Aladja Dagh, 
was defended by almost continuous shelter trenches, batteries being 
thrown up in the most favorable situations, while opposite them, in 
the plain below, lay the vast army of the Czar, outnumbering them 
two to one, and bringing four guns to bear on each piece the Turks 
could produce." 

On Sunday, October 14:th, the Russian left having been extended 
to the banks of the Arpa Tchai, beyond Ani, a division under Gen. 
Lazareff moved south of the Aladja Dagh, drove the Turks from the 
Orlok heights upon Yisinkoi and Kars, and occupied Orlok, thus 
completely turning Mukhtar's right. On the morning of Monday, 
the 15th, a heavy cannonade was directed against Olya Tepe, which 
was the key to the Turkish position. In the afternoon Gen. Hei- 
mann, with about 10,000 infantry, carried Olya Tepe by assault, cut- 
ting the Turkish army in two. 

While this was going on, the Little Yagni, held by Mehemet 
Pasha with ten battalions, four siege and six field pieces, was hotly 
contested. All day long the Russians endeavored to get a footing on 
the hill, but were thrown back. At night, however, the Turkish 
ammunition having failed, and the Russians having surrounded 
them, Mehemet Pasha, to avoid the necessity, which he foresaw 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



would be forced -upon him in tlie morning, of surrendering, 
abandoned his guns, having first dismounted them and removed the 
breech pieces, and cut his way through to Kars. 

The defense of the Olja Tepe is described from the Turkish side 
as having been most gallant, but the losses of the four battalions 
upon which it fell were most severe. " The Russian artillery was 
as accurate as it was heavy, the shells, fitted with time fuses, burst- 
ing over the crest with terrible precision. Mukhtar, dreading the 
loss of this hill, the connecting link between Yisinkoi and the 
Aladja Dagh, detached five battahons to its support. Three des- 
perate attacks had been repulsed, and yet the garrison showed no 
signs of flinching. These five battalions moved out in column ; one 
at last extended, and sending half a battalion to the right, the re- 
maining half reached the top in safety, when the rest of the column 
moved slowly up. From some unexplained cause a panic seized 
these men, and they turned and broke, then re-formed, and slowly 
retired. Their conduct was simply inexplicable ; an eye-witness 
assures me they never returned a shot to the heavy fire which the 
Kussians poured into them, but marched slowly and sullenly off, ut- 
terly regardless of the hail of bullets rattling about tbem, knocking 
over man after man." The panic spread, ^' position after position 
was abandoned as soon as threatened, and a scene of the wildest con- 
fusion ensued, crowds of unarmed fugitives rushing wildly along 
the road to Kars, while others strove madly to reach the Aladja 
Dagh. Mukhtar Pasha showed the greatest gallantry, but his ex- 
ample, his orders, were of no avail. Officers were menaced by their 
men, and they soon joined in the general rout." 

The three divisions constituting the Turkish right wing had in the 
meantime been surrounded and attacked, and driven from their forti- 
fied camp with great loss. Omer Pasha, with 2,000 cavalry, surrender- 
ed early in the day, and by eight o'clock in the evening of Monday, 
the remainder of this part of the army, with seven Pashas, thirty-two 
guns, and twenty battalions, had laid down their arms. The Rus- 
sians claimed that during the whole battle they captured 18,000 men 
and 40 cannon, and gave their own loss at the Aladja Dagh at 1,441 
men. Their loss in the other parts of the field was not stated. The 
Turks claimed that their battalions numbered only between three and 
four hundred men each, and that their loss, consequently, by the sur- 
render of their left wing, was only about 9,000 men. With these men 
they lost also their ammunition and commissariat stores, camp bag- 



THE SECOND CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. 34^ 

gage, animals, and hospitals. The Commander-in-chief escaped with 
difficulty to Kars. 

Mulditar Fasha succeeded in collecting a force of about 14,000 
men, remnants of 40 battalions. With 4,000 men and five mountain 
guns he fell back to Bardess, and afterward to Koprikoi, leaving 
Hussein Hami Pasha, with 10,000 men, to defend Kars. This force 
was not considered sufficient to hold one-quarter of the defenses, 
and the commander acknowledged that the men were cowed and 
worn out, that he could not hope to hold the fortress unless succor 
should ai-rive soon, and that he feared that it would be carried at 
the first assault. 

The uncertain fortunes of war are curiously illustrated by the 
fact that just previous to the opening of the campaign which led to 
this disastrous defeat of the Turks, Mukhtar Pasha, as well as his 
fellow-general, Osman Pasha, in Europe, had received from the Sul- 
tan, in acknowledgment of his services and victories in the summer 
campaign, the title of Ghazi, or the conqueror, the highest honor 
which can be given to a Turkish general, and one that is rarely con- 
ferred ; and that on the morning of the day the Russian attack was 
began on his position, he held a review of troops, at which he dis- 
tributed to the men who had most distinguished themselves in the 
battle at Kisil Tepe, the decorations which had been forwarded to 
them by the Sultan. He himself received, besides his proud title, 
a sword set with brilliants, a pair of handsome Arab chargers, and 
the cross of the first class of the Osmanlieh set in brilliants. 

Koprikoi, the position to which Mukhtar Pasha retired after his 
defeat at Aladja Dagh, being situated at the junction of several 
roads, was formerly considered a position of importance for the de- 
fense of Erzerum, and was selected for the purpose by Sir Fenwick 
Williams in 1855 ; the remains of the earthworks which he threw 
up then still remain, and formed the foundation of the works which 
were used by the Turks. The value of the position has, however, 
diminished since the use of rified arms has become general, since it 
is commanded by hills from which it is easily reached by long-range 
arms. 

Ismail Pasha, on the 17th of October, after hearing of the defeat 
of Mukhtar Pasha at the Aladja Dagh, moved from his position 
near Igdir and marched to join the commander-in-chief on the road 
to Erzerum. He was followed by Gen. Tergukassoff, but was not 
seriously molested by him, and joined Mukhtar Fasha at Koprikoi 



350 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



on tlie 27th. The Russians were moving in force upon the Turkish 
position, and threatened to flank it. Mnkhtar Pasha, finding that it 
was becoming untenable, burned his stores at Kara Kilissa, and 
began a retreat. The backward movement was executed in good 
order to Hassan Kaleh. The Turkish rear guard having halted at 
that place, the Rnssians came down upon it and effected a surprise, 
by means of which two Turkish battalions were taken prisoners. 
The correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph was among the 
captured, but he was released by Gen. Heimann, after having had 
everything except his horses stolen from him by the Cossacks. The 
Turks halted upon the heights of Deve Bojmn, in front of Erzerum, 
and prepared to make a stand for the defense of their capital. Feizi 
Pasha — the Hangarian Gen. Kohlman — who had been left in com- 
mand at Erzerum, had anticipated that this would be the result of 
the movements that were going on, and had already prepared to 
give the army a good position on the heights. He had drafted every 
able-bodied man in the city to work on the intrenchments, haul up 
guns, and man the batteries. 

The Deve Boyun, or Camel's !N"eck, is the crest of a range 
of mountains some two thousand feet higher than the plain 
below, over which the road from Koprikoi passes about six miles 
east of Erzerum. It had been selected as a defensive position by 
Sir Fen wick Williams in 1855, and Hassan Pasha, the governor of 
the city, and Gen. Kohlman, had spent much labor upon it since 
July, 1877, in building earthworks, so that it was considered in a 
good condition to resist an attacking force. 

The Russians, Generals Heimann and Tergukassoff, having effected 
a junction, advanced against the left of the Turkish lines on the 
heights of Deve Boyun, on the morning of the 5th of l^ovember. 
The Turks awaited the assault in their intrenchments. The Rus- 
sians came up, and were repulsed. They returned with repeated 
assaults, but were again and again repulsed, and finally retired at 
about eleven o'clock in the morning. 

Soon after noon the attention of the Turks was directed to the 
appearance of a body of Russian cavalry manoeuvering in the plain 
as if about to make an assault upon the Turkish center. The idea 
of a cavaby attack against such a position was preposterous, and 
the Turks were very much puzzled by the demonstration. It was a 
feint, designed to draw the Turks into an ambuscade. During the 
previous night the Russians had taken nearly all their infantry and 



THE SECOND CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, 



noiselessly, in the darkness, posted them in the ravines and recesses 
of the hills. It was a movement that had to be executed with great 
skill, for the Turks could have defeated it in a very short time upon 
the slightest warning that it was going on, but no one among them 
had any knowledge of it. The cavalry came nearly up to the base 
of the hill, presenting an imposing aspect. They kept on till 
the Turkish general decided it was time to meet them, and dis- 
patched eight battalions of infantry to attack them. Although 
the cavalry could plainly see the operations of the Turks, they paid 
no attention to them. The Turks went down the hill till they got 
within range of the Russians, and fired upon them. Their shots 
began to take effect, when, says a correspondent who was an eye- 
witness of the engagement : 

" In a moment everything is changed. From many places on 
the hill-sides, where but a moment ago there was nothing to be 
seen but the bare ground, start np dense files of Russian infantry. 
The hills are covered with them — their shouts echo from side to 
side. In an instant they are pouring fearful volleys at murderously 
short distances on both flanks of the unsuspecting, unprepared Turks. 
Too confident, too anxious to punish the over-daring of the Russian 
cavalry, Mukhtar's men have advanced so far down in the valley 
that there is no longer left the possibility of recovery. The narrow- 
ness of the road, the closeness of the overwhelming fire, the advan- 
tageous positions secured by the enemy — above all, the suddenness 
of the attack, unman and paralyze them." 

Mukhtar Pasha, seeing the trap into which he had fallen, endeav- 
ored to retrieve his mistake. Placing himself at the head of two 
battalions, he threw himself into the advanced shelter-trenches, and 
tried to check the Russian movement. But it was too late. The 
division under Ismail Pasha, the Kurd, turned and ran. Feizi 
Pasha endeavored to stop their flight, but in vain. They were com- 
pletely panic-stricken, and ran every way, bewildered, and unable 
to make any resistance. The Russians advanced up the hill, reached 
the intrenchments as soon as the Turks themselves, and occupied 
the positions as fast as they reached them. The Turks were driven 
over the crest of the hill in utter confusion, abandoning everything, 
while the Russians pushed their advance with unabated vigor. All 
was done with amazing speed and ease. It was fully noon when 
the Russians gave the first warning of their presence, and at two 
o'clock in the afternoon the Turkish army was in full flight. Not a 



352 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



gun was fired at the Russians as they advanced up the hill, but the 
Turkish gunners cut the traces of their artillery, mounted their 
horses, and galloped away. The infantry struggled as well as they 
could, but they too had at last to join in the retreat. 

The narrow roadway from Deve Boyun to Erzerum was blocked 
by a dense crowd of fugitives, who would have been annihilated, 
had not Feizi and Mehemet Pashas — both foreign officers, and 
no Turks — taken a stand with their brigades, and poured such a 
fire upon the advancing columns of the Russians as checked their 
pursuit. The demoralized soldiers, says another correspondent, who 
was also an eye-witness of the scene, entered Erzerum unpursued 
by the foe, who really might have followed them up and gained pos- 
session of the capital without striking another blow. All through 
the night the crow^ds of fugitives continued to pour into the city. 
Many merely passed through and deserted to their homes ; others, 
worn out with fatigue, cold, and exposure, threw themselves down 
in the streets, and, in spite of the pouring rain which was falling, 
slept, with no cover but the clothes they had on. Feizi Pasha en- 
tered the place, having succeeded in drawing off his men unper- 
ceived ; Mehemet Pasha, his fellow officer, had to fight his way 
back. The Russians advanced to the crest of the Deve Boyun, 
where they took up a strong position overlooking Erzerum, and 
began to throw up redoubts. A number of the Mohammedan citi- 
zens fled from the city during the evening. 

On the 6th the head ci^dl authorities of the town presented petitions 
to Mukhtar Pasha, asking him to surrender the place in order to 
avoid the destruction attendant upon an investment and bombard- 
ment. The General replied that he would have to apply to the 
Sultan for permission to carry out such a request. Immediately 
afterward a summons came from the Russians demanding a surren- 
der. Mukhtar again replied that he must consult the Sultan, and 
asked for three days' grace to telegraph to Constantinople for in- 
structions. He afterward answered the Russians that the Sultan had 
directed him to hold the place to the last man and the last cartridge, 
and he should do so. On the Yth, Gen. Ileimann sent him word 
that three days' grace would be given him, after which the bombard- 
ment would begin. A council of war was held, at which several 
officers of the city, members of the Chamber of Deputies, priests, 
and Mohammedan residents attended, and it was resolved to defend 
the place to the last extremity. The Russians had, in the meantime, 



THE SECOND CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. 



erected works commanding the road from the Deve Boyun and the 
whole town. 

On the next two days public criers went about the streets an- 
nouncing that inhabitants wishing to leave the city must do so 
before the hour fixed for the bombardment to begin. 

On Monday, Nov. 9th, the Russians made an attack on another of 
the Turkish fortified positions around Erzerum, Fort Azizie, situ- 
ated south-east of the town. The Turks were surprised for the 
moment, and the Russians gained a temporary occupation of the 
position ; but the Turks soon rallied, and turning upon their assail- 
ants, attacked them with vigor, and drove them out at the point of the 
bayonet, after a hard hand-to-hand contest. The Russians retreated 
to the Deve Boyun, closely followed by the Turks, leaving a large 
number of killed and wounded in the intrenchments, but carrying 
off, as they claimed, a considerable number of Turks as prisoners. 

The Russians now proceeded to prepare for the investment of Erze- 
rum, beginning with the strengthening of their intrenchments on the 
Deve Boyun, and gradually extending their lines around the north 
of the city. Before the close of the month the snow had fallen to 
the depth of three feet on the mountains. The Russians held their 
posts on the Deve Boyun while their troops were quartered in the 
neighboring villages, and improved the favorable weather that was 
given them, in movements looking to the cutting of the communi- 
cations with the city. 

"While Generals Heimann and Tergukassoff were occupied with 
their preparations for the siege of Erzerum, Gen. Melikoff, with the 
Grand Duke Michael, was pressing the investment of Kars. An 
attack upon the fortifications, with the view of carrying them by 
assault, was arranged for the 14th of November. It rained heavily 
at that time, and the attack had to be postponed. Frosty weather 
set in on the 16th, and it was decided to make the attack on the 17th. 
It curiously happened that no newspaper correspondents were present 
at the battle, so that the only accounts of it, from eye-witnesses, that 
have been published, are given by members of the Russian army. 
The troops were divided into five columns, the whole being under 
the command of Gen. Lazareff. The night was calm and frosty, 
cloudless, and with a full moon. The troops advanced noiselessly, 
in a silence that was broken only by the occasional firing from the 
siege batteries, continued as it had been all day. " Before us," says 
one of the Russian correspondents, " lay the plain, stretching away 



354 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



forward to the lowest of the enemy's works, but w^e could nowhere 
detect the storming columns, so silently did they advance." The 
account is continued by another Russian correspondent : 

" Shortly after nine o'clock were heard a few musket-shots^ which 
showed that the outposts were reached. Then thundered the cannon, 
and the tight began. The storming columns met with such a terrific 
fire that nothing was heard but a continuous roll of big guns and 
musketry. All the forts were suddenly, as it were, girded about 
with a belt of fire, in some places with several belts one above the 
other. The Kara Dagh heights were literally covered with flame, and 
looked like a great bonfire. Every soldier of the garrison fired 
hundreds of shots. All the big guns, it seems, were in action. From 
a distance it appeared impossible to remain for a moment under 
such a fire, but through it silently, without firing, unwaveringly, 
advanced the storming columns. When near the fortifications they 
rushed forward with a 'hurrah.' The artillery fire ceases. Our 
soldiers jump over the ' wolf -holes ' down into the ditch and begin 
to scale the parapets. The storming ladders, twenty-one feet in 
length, are too short, but the brave fellows climb and clamber all the 
same, clinging to each other, digging their bayonets into the parapet, 
giving each other a lift, and ever forward. Now they are on the 
top ; the gates are blown open with dynamite ; Fort Kanly the 
Terrible can no longer resist. Count Grabbe is in front with his 
volunteers, and falls with two bullets in his breast. After him 
comes Colonel Belinski, at the head of the regiment, and he, too, 
falls under bullets and bayonets. But that does not stop the for- 
ward movement. The garrison wavers, takes to flight, and our troops 
enter. Kanly is ours ; and those of the defenders who shut them- 
selves up in the casemates are obliged to capitulate. Soon fall, in 
like manner, Suvarri and Hafiz. An advance is then made on the 
citadel. At all points the Turks offer a desperate resistance. 
Toward morning the Kutais regiment takes the Kara Dagh and Arab 
Tabia, and soon afterward the citadel falls into our hands." 

As soon as the Kara Dagh and Arab Tabia were taken, the Turks 
determined to abandon the town. They went out, about eight o'clock 
on the morning of the 18th, toward Olti and Erzernm. They were 
fired upon by the artillery of Gen. Roop's forces, which w^ere stationed 
in this direction, and were intercepted by a body of cavalry sent in 
pursuit of them, and surrendered. The number of prisoners was 
12,000. 



THE SECOND CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. 



355 



The correctness of this account is attested by the concurrence of 
witnesses, and bj all the known circumstances, but it still remains a 
remarkable fact, hard to be explained, how twenty-four Russian 
battalions could march in five columns on a perfectly clear moon- 
light, winter night over the level space of two and one-half miles, 
which intervened between their positions and the forts, without 
being observed by a single Turkish sentinel. The movement was 
one of great audacity on the part of the Russians, and its success 
shows extreme negligence on the part of the Turks. The Turks 
charged treachery upon one of their Pashas, but he could hardly 
have infected all the sentinels of all the forts. 

A grand religious service was held in the Russian camp on the 20th 
in honor of the victory, and the Grand Duke conveyed to the officers 
and soldiers the thanks of the Emperor and Commander-in-chief for 
their gallantry. 

The whole interest of the war in Asia after the capture of Kars 
centered around Erzerum, where, however, the depth of the snow 
and the severity of the weather forbade all continuous active move- 
ments. While the Russians were strengthening their lines of invest- 
ment as the weather permitted them to adjust their positions, the 
Turks were endeavoring to collect forces and preparing to offer as 
obstinate a defense as possible. Feizi Pasha was stationed at Bai- 
burt, where he was to endeavor to organize the mountaineers of 
Lazistan into regiments. Kurd Ismail Pasha was dispatched to 
Erzengan, where large stores of provisions had been concentrated 
from the market towns of Asia Minor, and announced his intention 
of returning shortly at the head of 40,000 men. A communication 
with provision-trains was kept up with this place, so that at the be- 
ginning of December a sufficient supply was said to exist in Erze- 
rum to enable the place to stand a six months' siege. I^'evertheless, 
the poorer inhabitants were already suffering great privations on 
account of the famine price of food. Mukhtar Pasha declared 
that he had no thought of surrendering, but that his sole idea was 
to hold out as long as possible, giving his lieutenants time to organ- 
ize a fresh army, with which he would begin operations again in the 
spring. Still, he was forced to confess that not only were his pres- 
ent forces immerically weak, but their moral condition was bad, and 
that he had only four battalions which he could trust in action. He 
had, however, entire confidence in the towns-people, and believed 
that with their aid he would be able to repel any assaults made upon 



356 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



the city. Much sickness was prevailing both at Erzerum and at 
Kars. The hospitals at the former place were filled with soldiers, 
so that the Governor of the town was obliged to appropriate eighty 
additional houses to hospital uses. 

On the 11th of December, the British Consul, Mr. Zohrab, 
received orders to leave Erzerum, and take with him the archives 
of the Consulate. His departure was felt to be a great loss by the 
citizens of the place, for he had made himseK useful and beloved 
by many acts of kindness and humanity. Among other acts, he 
had organized a committee, composed of Mohammedans and Chris- 
tians, to inquire into and alleviate all cases of distress among the 
poor of the city, and had rendered valuable aid to all sanitary agents 
and to strangers who visited the place. A few days after the de- 
parture of the British Consul, a movement was made threatening 
the city from the north, but it failed. The Eussian lines were 
pushed further forward, and the place was almost invested on 
the 25th. 

At the close of December, Mukhtar Pasha, in obedience to orders 
from his Government, retired from Erzerum, leaving Ismail Kurd 
Pasha as commander of the troops in his place. The reason of 
the removal of Mukhtar was not given. It was reported on the one 
hand that he was recalled to account for the disasters which the 
Turkish forces had suffered in Armenia under his command, while 
other reports assumed that he would be assigned to a command in 
Europe. He was, actually, after his arrival in Constantinople, placed 
in command of a body of the troops which were stationed in the 
works at Tchataldja for the defense of the capital. The change of 
commanders was not to the advantage of the Turkish cause at 
Erzerum. Mukhtar Pasha, though not a brilliant general, nor one 
of extraordinary ability, had proved himself throughout the cam- 
paign a faithful, competent officer ; had gained the confidence of 
his followers and the respect of his enemies. He had been in turns 
a victor and a sufferer by defeat, without stain upon his honor ; and 
he was believed to be clear of complicity with the atrocities com- 
mitted by the Kurds, which, like those of the Bashi-Bazouks in 
Europe, disgraced the Turkish cause in Asia. His successor was a 
bigoted Mussulman, a man who was accustomed to spend his time 
in prayers, while he left the duties of planning and acting to his 
lieutenants, who had entered the campaign without reputation for 
generalship, and had acquired none in its course. The Russians 




THE LAST SHOT IN THE DEFENCE OF KARS. 



THE SECOND CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. 



359 



had so well invested the citj at the time of Mukhtar's recall that it 
was reported that he had to escape from the city in disguise as one 
of the suite of a European Consul there ; that he was stopped by 
the Cossacks, and was only let go on the Consul producing his 
credentials. 

Ilidja was occupied by the Russians during the first week in Jan- 
uary, and the investment of Erzerum was complete. The Russians 
had, by the middle of the month, concentrated about 20,000 men on 
the plains, and occupied a space of forty-two miles, stretching from 
Hinsk, on the north, as far as Pirnakabar, on the west. On the 
12th of January, a Turkish officer, bearing a white flag, passed 
through the Russian lines, entered Erzerum, and delivered to Ismail 
Pasha a telegram from Constantinople, announcing the opening of 
negotiations for a suspension of hostilities. The Russians, neverthe- 
less, continued to concentrate their troops. The close investment of 
the city was continued without material changes, or the happening 
of any striking event, until the signing of the preliminaries of 
peace. 

A Russian commission had been at work in anticipation of secur- 
ing a permanent acquisition of territory in Asia, at the conclusion 
of the war, for the organization of the conquered parts of Armenia, 
and finished its labors early in February. The male population of 
the territory, including the not yet conquered districts of Erzerum, 
Yan, and Batum, was fonnd to amount to 610,744, including 
180,188 Armenians, 207,019 Kurds, 189,250 Turks, 25,098 Kistl- 
bashas, and 2,000 Tartars. The commission provided for the divis- 
ion of Armenia into two governments, and the six districts of 
Tchaldir, Bayazid, Yan, Mush, Erivan, and Kars, from the whole 
of which it was anticipated the Government would receive a net 
revenue of 3,000,000 rubles. 



CHAPTEE YIII. 



THE OPERATIONS BEFOEE BATTJM AND IE THE CAUCASUS. 

Batum— Its Importance as a Port— The Eussians Undertake its Investment— The Turk- 
ish Expedition to Sukhum Kaleh, and their Effort to Excite an Insurrection of the 
Caucasian Tribes — Insignificant Results of the Movement. 

"While the Kussians were pushing their main campaign in Ar- 
menia, important subsidiary movements were prosecuted by both 
sides on the coast of the Black Sea and in the Caucasus. The Rus- 
sians were attempting offensive operations against Batum, the most 
important port held by the Turks in this region, and the only really 
good port on the coast, and the Turks were directing expeditions to 
points on the Caucasian shores fm-ther north, to stir up and assist 
insurrections among the Mohammedan tribes, with a view to the de- 
struction of the Russian line of communication over the Caucasus 
Mountains. 

The shores of the Black Sea, between the Turkish fortified ports 
of Batum and Trebizond, a distance of about one hundred and 
twelve miles, are destitute of roads, rocky, and impassable. The 
ground rises in a distance of a little more than twenty miles from the 
coast into the Barchel Mountains. As the Turks were masters of 
the sea, they might have inflicted great damage upon the Russians 
by harassing their right wing and cutting its communications, if they 
had had good points from which to send detachments of ti'oops 
against them. The only point, however, offering a practicable 
basis for such operations was Batum, which presented a combination 
of advantages for military movements against the line of Russian 
invasion. It has an excellent and convenient harbor, is connected 
by good roads with Tiflis and Akhaltzikh, the base of the Russian 
right wing, and communicates directly with the country to the south, 
by the river Tchoruk, which is navigable to Artvin, and by a road 
running up the valley of the river. The Turks actually made 
much use of Batum as a station for their troops and a rendezvous 
for their fleets, whence expeditions were fitted and sent against the 



THE OPERATIONS BEFORE BATUM. 



361 



Caucasian coasts, and tliej kept there a force of between eighteen 
and twenty-four thousand men. It was important to the Eussians 
that they should either capture this port, or keep its garrison so 
engaged that it wonld not be able to operate against General Meli- 
koff's right wing. 

The duty of taking care of Batum was assigned to the Rion corps, 
Gen. Oklobjio commanding. On the 11th of May, this officer, hav- 
ing established himself in the position of Mucha Estate, made an attack 
upon the heights of Tchatzubani, on the left bank of the river Kin- 
trisi, a river which empties into the sea just south of the boundary 
line. A severe fight ensued, in which the Russians failed to carry 
the point they aimed at, although they claimed to have maintained 
the positions they had assumed, with a loss of 128 killed and 
wounded. The Turks represented the affair as a great victory for 
them, and rated the Russian loss at 4,000. An attack was next 
attempted upon Batum from the sea. The Russian steamer " Con- 
stantine " left Sebastopol on the 12th of May with four torpedo 
boats, which were sent forward into the harbor to be attached to the 
Turkish ships and destroy them. The movements of the toi'pedo 
boats were observed from the shore, the alarm was given, and the 
boats had to be withdrawn without accomplishing their object. The 
fighting on the land side was renewed on the 23d, and again on the 
28th, when the Turks were driven from the heights of Sameba, on 
the left bank of the Kintrisi. An expedition was dispatched up 
the river and secured the submission of the inhabitants, the roads 
were repaired, and Russian batteries were established at Sameba. 
The situation was not materially changed for several weeks, al- 
though new movements were attempted and skirmishes took place 
nearly every day till the latter part of June, when a new com- 
mander. Dervish Pasha, was appointed for the Turkish forces, 
and greater energy was infused into their movements. On the 
23d of June, the new commander reported that he had compelled 
the Russians to withdraw their batteries, and retreat, with a loss of 
1,500 killed and wounded. The heights of Sameba and Khatzuba- 
ni were recaptured by the Turks, and the Grand Duke Michael 
announced about the 1st of July that General Oklobjio had found it 
advisable " to concentrate his forces in a more advantageous posi- 
tion." Gen. Oklobjio withdrew his headquarters to Mucha Estate, 
in the vicinity of the frontier. The engagements which ended in 
this result were fought with great gallantry on both sides, the Rus- 
19 



362 THE WAR IN THE EAST, 

sians defending the positions whicli thej successively lost, witli 
brave persistency, and losing many high officers in the conflicts, 
while the Turks suffered such losses that they were not able to fol- 
low up their victory with that degree of energy which they had 
hoped to exhibit. 

During the interval between the two campaigns in Armenia, the 
forces of Gen. Oklobjio were stationed in the small district lying 
between the boundary of Turkey and Russia and Orzugeti, near 
Poti and Fort St. ^Nicholas. N'o new operations were undertaken 
in this field for several months. Ardanutch, which had already 
been taken and abandoned by the Russians, was again taken by a 
detachment under Gen. Komaroff, who was co-operating with Gen. 
Oklobjio, on the 17th of November. The bombardment of Batum 
was resumed early in November. On the night of the 27th of the 
same month. Dervish Pasha, the Turkish commander, suddenly 
abandoned his position at Khatzubani, leaving in it merely an insig- 
nificant force, and the post was occupied on the following day by 
the Russians, who, after driving out the small remaining garrison, 
found themselves in possession of the Ottoman camp with huts for 
10,000 men, and some stores of provision and ammunition. In the 
latter part of December, the Russians were continuing an intermit- 
tent fire upon the Turkish lines without eflPcct. The situation con- 
tinued without material change till the end of January. Gen. 
Oklobjio did not make any progress against the intrenchments of 
Dervish Pasha. The co-operating column of Gen. Komaroff* at 
Ardanutch, on the 13th and 22d, defeated a division of the enemy 
which stood between him and Batum at Artvin. The Russian 
steamer Constantine" approached the Turkish fleet at Batum on the 
26th and sent out a torpedo-boat, which succeeded in blowing up 
one of the vessels. The remaining vessels of the fleet then took on 
board a part of the garrison of the fortress, with Dervish Pasha, to 
transport them to Constantinople. Learning this, Gen. Oklobjio 
undertook to storm the Turkish positions on the 30th, but was 
driven back after he had crossed the Kintrisi River, with consider- 
able loss. 

The Turks, in forming their plans at the beginning of the cam- 
paign, had placed considerable dependence on the expectation that 
an insurrection would be excited amons; the Mohammedan tribes of 
the Caucasus. Taking it for graiited that the sympathies of these 
people would be with them as Moslems, and that they were discon- 



THE OPERA TIONS BEFORE BA TUM. 



tented under Eussian rule, tbey hoped to promote an insurrection, 
and make it so formidable that the attention of the Russians and a 
considerable part of their armies would be diverted from the active 
prosecution of the invasion. Besides, as .the only lines of commu- 
nication between the Russian army of the Caucasus and the Euro- 
pean bases of supply traversed the Caucasian country, and were 
beset with difficult mountain passes and narrow defiles, they antici- 
pated that if a general insurrection could be excited they would be 
able so to embarrass the Russians as, possibly, entirely to defeat 
their movements and break up their campaign. A revolt in the 
Terek district would seriously impede the operations of the railroad 
from Tifiis to Rostov, and would, in case the insurgents should be 
able to control the Pass of Yladikavkas, entirely blockade it. A 
general movement of the tribes along the Black Sea, aided by the 
naval superiority of the Turks in its waters, would make the coast 
road — the only other means of communication available to the Rus- 
sians — impracticable. This road, running along the narrow levels 
between the spurs of the mountains and the sea-shore, and inter- 
sected by numerous difficult rivers and mountain streams, is exposed 
through much of its length to the direct fire of men-of-war, as well 
as to attacks from hostile bodies posted on the hills or valleys above. 
The country is one in which an insurrection would be extremely 
difficult, even impracticable, to deal with, being thickly wooded, 
and the only roads being bridle-paths, which do not exist on any 
map, but are perfectly well known to the natives. It was in this 
region that the Turks made, at the very beginning of the war, and 
continued for many months, a deliberate and energetic effort to 
kindle an insurrection of the whole people. Signs of revolt also 
appeared in other parts of the Caucasus, and a rising took place 
among the Tchetchentzes, immediately after the declaration of war, 
in consequence of which a state of siege had been proclaimed in the 
Terek province. 

Admiral Hassan Pasha sailed from Batum, near the end of April, 
with a squadron of five vessels. Proceeding along the coast the fleet- 
cannonaded some of the Russian forts near the mouth of the Rion 
River, ar d on the 12th of May reached Fort Godauty, and landed 
there about one thousand Circassians, who were joined by a portion 
of the inhabitants of the district. On the 14:th the squadron 
reached Sukhum-Kaleh, a town of about sixteen hundred inliabitants, 
on the north-eastern coast of the Black Sea, the only port, though a 



3^4 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



poor one, of the Caucasus north of Poti, and in the midst of the 
Abkhasian country. The first bombardment of the fortifications 
was followed by an attempt to land, which was defeated with con- 
siderable loss to the assailants. The bombardment was continued 
till the town and fort were nearly destroyed, when the position was 
stormed and captured, the Eussians retreating. The Russians at- 
tempted to retake the place on the 18th, but were repulsed. The 
spirit of revolt spread quite rapidly among the Abkhasians for a 
short time after the Turkish movement was begun. One of the 
sons of Shamyl, Ghazi Mehmed Pasha, went with the Turks to join 
the rising tribes, under the expectation that his name would arouse 
a great excitement among them. His influence was thwarted, how- 
ever, by the adherence of his brother to the Russians, as an officer 
in their army, who also was sent to the Caucasus to encourage the 
loyalty of the tribes. The Turks prosecuted their movements with 
such energy, that by the first of June they had the control of the 
shore of the whole Abkhasian coast. A council of war held at Con- 
stantinople resolved to treat the movements in this region as of 
paramount importance, and decided to send reinforcements to assist 
them, and a large quantity of rifles to distribute among the tribes. 
Fazli Pasha was sent out with a force of ten thousand men. The 
Russian counter movements were prompt ; the revolt in the Terek 
district was quickly put down ; measures were immediately taken 
to prevent the Abkhasian revolt from extending into the interior 
from the sea-coast. The district was put under the command of 
General Alkhasoff, and troops were thrown into it from the region 
of the Kuban and the east, and the insurrectionary movement was 
confined to an unimportant stretch of the coast, extending, according 
to the admissions of the Turks, not more than forty miles into the 
interior. The Turks continued their attacks at various points along 
the sea-coast, where the Russians did not consider it worth while, 
since it was useless, in view of the advantages which the enemy en- 
joyed from their naval superiority, to offer them any serious opposi- 
tion. The control of the interior was still entirely with the Rus- 
sians, who had also set limits to the revolt both in the north and 
the south. At the beginning of July they claimed that the insur- 
rection was virtually suppressed, while the Turks still held the 
positions which they had captured, and the whole Caucasian popula- 
tion were still very uneasy. The Russian statements, however, 
received a striking confirmation less than a month later, when the 



THE OPERA TIONS BEFORE BA TUM, 



Turkish Government resolved to abandon the Caucasian expedition, 
to evacuate the captured positions on the Abkhasian coast, and to re- 
move to Turkish territory all of the population who had com- 
promised themselves with their Government by taking part in the 
insurrection. Admiral Hobart Pasha, the commander of the Turk- 
ish fleet in the Black Sea, was commissioned to superintend the 
transportation of the refugees. The Abkhasians eagerly availed 
themselves of the offer of the Turks to remove them, and came in 
throngs from all directions to the points of embarkation, and the 
vessels were employed for several days in conveying them and their 
cattle to Trebizond. The number who sought to emigrate was given 
at fifty thousand, with one hundred and fifty thousand head of cattle. 
By the end of August all who presented themselves for removal 
had been taken away, only four hundred having, according to the 
Turkish accounts, fallen into the hands of the Russians. Suk- 
hum-Kaleh was finally abandoned by the Turks on the first of 
September, after an unprofitable occupancy by them of about four 
months, and was entered by the Russians under General Alkhasoff 
on the same day. A general proclamation was issued by the Rus- 
sians summoning the insurgent Abkhasians to submit and lay down 
their arms, under severe penalties in the event of their refusal. A 
number of those who had participated in the insurrection were 
exiled to Siberia. 

N^otwithstanding the manifest failure of the attempts of the Turks 
to excite a general insurrection, the whole region of the Caucasus 
was in a disturbed condition during the whole period of the summer 
campaign. An insurrection broke out in Daghestan, in the eastern 
side of the province, in June, where a raid was made by Turkish 
irregulars, and they succeeded in destroying parts of the Tifiis Rail- 
way, and the insurgents received the assistance of a number of 
young Circassian officers, who had been trained in the Russian mili- 
taiy schools. A second insurrection broke out in the Terek district, 
in July, in consequence of which it Avas considered necessary to^ 
hold a force in reserve to support the troops regularly stationed- 
there. 

Another revolt broke out in the central districts of Daa:hestan in: 
September, and gradually extended. Bodies of the insurgents,, 
represented to number about 4,000, were met by the Russians on. 
the 30th of September and the 3d of October, and were defeated. 
The revolt was completely suppressed by the middle of December. 



366 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



These outbreaks caused the Kussians some trouble in the earlier 
campaign, and required the detachment of considerable bodies of 
troops to meet them. After the failure of the first Armenian cam- 
paign, engineers were dispatched to explore the routes by the Cas- 
pian Sea, with a view to the construction of new roads for the 
transportation of supplies that should avoid the passes of the 
Caucasus. A few weeks later, the slowness of the Russians to move 
in opem'ng their second campaign, was excused by the statement 
that their forces had been weakened by the necessity of detailing 
detachments to assist the troops in the Caucasus. Very little was 
heard of the insurrections after the second campaign was fairly 
opened. 



CHAPTEE IX. 



ON TO CONSTANTmOPLE. 

The Close of the Campaign on the Lorn — Servia enters upon the Scene of War — Capture 
of Ak Palanka and Pirot by the Servians — Gourko Crosses the Etropol Balkan — 
Battles of Taskesen and Kamarli — Capture of Sophia, the Trojan Pass, the Shipka 
Pass, and Philippopolis — Suleiman Pasha Defeated and Forced into the Rhodope 
Mountains— Capture of Adrianople — Suleiman's March to the Sea — The Russians 
Occupy Tcholuk and Tchataldja, and Push their Lines along the North Shore of 
the Sea of Marmora — Final Operations of the Servians — Surrender of Widin — The 
Czarevitch Occupies Rasgrad, Osman Bazar, and Rustchuk — Gen. Zimmermann 
Assumes the Ofiensive — Capture of Bazardjik. 

SuLEmAN Pasha undertook, on December 12tli, another attack on 
the extreme left of the Czarevitch's army stationed at Metchka and 
Tirstenik. The Twelfth army corps, under the Grand Duke Yladi- 
mir, was stationed here. Suleiman attacked these positions five 
times, and was proceeding to the sixth attack when the Pussians 
received reinforcements from the Thirteenth corps and forced him 
to retreat. His losses during this retreat were considerable, amount- 
ing, according to the best estimates, to at least 2,000 men. Two 
days later, on the l-lth, he withdrew his troops from Elena, and on 
the 16th the extreme right of the Czarevitch's army had again occu- 
pied this place and Slataritza. This put an end to all operations on 
the Lorn on the part of the Turks. 

The fall of Plevna was the occasion of the re-entrance of Servia 
into the war. This principahty, which had received such easy 
terms from Turkey, when it concluded the treaty of peace in Feb- 
ruary, had been the scene of considerable political excitement 
throughout the year. A strong party had clamored loudly for 
renewing the war, and on several occasions it had seemed as if Servia 
would again take the field. When the Eussians entered Rumania, 
Prince Milan paid a visit to the Czar at Ployeshti, where he met 
with a very friendly reception, although it was reported at the time 
that he was advised by the Russians not to resume hostilities against 
Turkey. Now, when Plevna had fallen, and the Turkish power 
seemed to have been efifectually broken, Prince Milan embraced the 

(369) 



370 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



opportimitj again to declare war. In his declaration, issued on 
December 12tli, after denouncing Turkish cruelty and barbarity, he 
continued : 

"Although Servia behaves toward Turkey most honorably, the 
Porte begins preparing new perils for our country, besides con- 
cocting secret conspiracies against our internal security. The 
Ottoman Foreign Minister threatens us openly with innumerable 
kinds of injury, without being formally at war with Servia. Servi- 
ans ! When the Porte assumes against us such a threatening tone, 
at a moment when it is pressed by an army of the strongest power, 
it is evident that we can not permit the occasion to pass by without 
trying once more to secure our future. The struggle with our foe 
of many centuries was not finished with last year's war ; it would 
be inglorious, unprofitable for us doing peaceable work, not to try 
within the boundaries of our strength to remove threatening dangers 

for the Servian nation and not to fulfill our national task 

Great works, like the one underta,ken by us last year, can not remain 

half accomplished If last year the enemy had superior forces 

to bring against the Servian principality, to-day entering the field 
we find on our side the victorious luissian army, our heroic Mon- 
tenegrin brethren, our brave Kumanian neighbors. We take up 

arms to-day for the holy national Christian cause Let us 

now fulfill the great national task which the old heroes of Takova 
so gloriously began, and which we renewed last year. Let us move 
forward alongside of the victorious banner of the Czar, the Libera- 
tor, with Christian faith in God Almighty, the Protector of right, 
and success is sure, in the name of the liberator of our oppressed 
brethren, our country's welfare, Servia's independence, and its 
heroic people. It is God's will." 

The Servians had at this time four armies ready to take the 
field — those on the Drina, on the Javor, on the Morava, and on the 
Timok Elvers. While the army of the Drina was intended for 
defensive purposes only, the armies of the Morava, and of the 
Timok, occupied Mramor, Ak Palanka, and Pirot, invested i^issa, 
and proceeded toward Sophia. J^issa .-ii rendered on January 10, 
18Y8, when the Servians took 8,000 prisoners, 90 cannon, and 
12,000 guns. 

Wo left Gen, Gourko in the latter part of November on the 
heights of the Baba Konak Pass. The Turkish army occupied at 
this time a position at the south end of this pass at Arab Konak and 



ON TO CONSTANTINOPLE. 37 1 

Kcamarli, and here repulsed several artillery and infantry attacks 
made by Gen. Gourko during the early part of December. The 
surrender of Plevna enabled the Kussians to send considerable re- 
inforcements to Gourko. 

Od December 28th he crossed the Etropol Balkan, a feat which 
was attended with great suffering and loss of life to the Russians, 
and then advanced upon Sophia. Several changes had taken place at 
this point during December. Mehemet Ali had been removed from 
the command, and Shakir Pasha appointed in his place, and the 
latter officer was also removed within a week to make place for 
ISTedjib Pasha. On December 30th and 31st, Gourko defeated the 
Turks in two severe battles at Taskesen and Kamarli. The Turks were 
completely routed and scattered, a small body forcing its way to 
Slatitza, while the greater part of the remainder were taken prison- 
ers. This victory opened the way for the Russians to Sophia, which 
they occupied on January 3d without meeting with any resistance. 
Further east, Gen. Dandeville, commanding the 3d cavalry division 
of the Guards, had occupied Slatitza on January 2d, and advanced 
as far as Kosnitza, where the Prohod Pass leads into the valley of 
the Derbent River. This pass, however, could not be taken as long 
as the Trojan Pass, leading from Trojan into this valley, was in the 
hands of the Turks. The Trojan Pass was finally taken on January 
7th, by General Karzoff, under the greatest difficulties, a large number 
of his men perishing from the cold. On the 8th, Gen. Radetzky, com- 
manding in the Shipka Pass, attacked the Turkish positions in that 
pass so suddenly that he captured the entire Turkish army under 
Ressel Pasha. In his telegram to the Czar, who had returned to 
St. Petersburg after the fall of Plevna, the Grand Duke Mcholas 
said : 

''I am happy to congratulate your Majesty upon a brilliant 
victory gained this day. Gen. Radetzky has, after desperate fight- 
ing, captured the whole Turkish army defending the Shipka Pass, 
consisting of 41 battalions, 10 batteries, and one regiment of cavalry. 
Prince Mirsky has occupied Kasanlik. Gen. Skobeleff holds 
Shipka." 

This estimate of the Turkish army was in all probability exag- 
gerated. The latest estimates received of the strength of the 
Moslem forces defending the southern end of the Shipka Pass placed 
the number at 10,000. This victory gave the entire line of the 
Balkans, from Servia to the line of Osman Bazar to Selvi, into the 



372 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



hands of the Russians, and enabled them to move their reinforce- 
ments direct from Sistova to Tirnova, and thence across the Balkans 
to Rumelia. In Rumelia, Suleiman, who had moved the greater 
part of his troops from the Lom across the Balkans after the sur- 
render of Plevna, had gathered a considerable army at Adrianople. 
In the first days of January, Suleiman was put in command of the 
forces at Philippopolis, and Mehemet Ali was for a second time 
during the war appointed to the supreme command. 

Gen. Gourko, after having taken Sophia, left the place in the hands 
of a garrison, and pushed on with the greater part of his army 
toward Philippopolis. He met with but very little resistance until he 
had passed Tartar Bazardjik, when a little beyond this city he en- 
countered, on January 14th, the first serious opposition. The fight- 
ing was continued during the following days, the contending forces 
continually approaching Philippopolis, and on the 16th, Gourko 
entered this town. On the same day he was joined here by SkobelefTs 
cavalry, which had been sent him by Gen. Radetzky. On the 16th, 
Gen. Strukoff, who had been sent out by General Radetzky, occupied 
Hermanli, and then continued to advance upon Adrianople, where 
he expected to join Gourko's army. During this time, the left wing 
of the Russian army was advancing on Adrianople, having occupied, 
also on the 16th, Slivno, Kasan, and Yamboli. One regiment of this 
column had left the main column at Slivno, and marched upon 
Earnabad on the Black Sea. 

After Gen. Gourko had entered Philippopolis, he sent his right 
wing, under Count Shuvaloff, against Dermendere, where Fuad 
Pasha had occupied a strong position ; his left wing, under Gen. 
Dandeville, was to cross the Maritza at Yeni Mahala, advance 
against Stanimaki, and threaten the Turkish line of retreat ; his 
extreme left was to advance on the road to Adrianople with the 
three-fold object of pursuing the Turks, who had retreated in this 
direction, of blocking the direct road to Constantinople, and of 
effecting a junction with Radetzky 's troops advancing on Adriano- 
ple. In a series of fierce engagements, extending to the 18th, 
Suleiman's army was forced into the Rhodope Mountains, while a 
smaller part effected its retreat to Adrianople. This city was 
evacuated on the 19th, and on the following day Gen. Strukoff, 
commanding the advance guard of Radetzky's army, took possession 
of it. Adrianople, which, up to the capture of Constantinople in 
1453, was the capital of the Turks, and which even in the 17th 



ON TO CONSTANTINOPLE. 



373 



century was the residence of the Sultans Mohammed lY. and 
Soljman II., is to-day nothing but an immense collection of wooden 
huts. The streets are filthy and narrow, and it is only with great 
difliculty that one can ascend to the higher quarters of the city. But 
few of the gi'eat buildings of former times have been preserved. 
Among these few there are besides, several caravanserles, which, 
however, have been diverted from their original purpose, and now 
serve as warehouses, three large mosques, which are situated in 
close proximity to each other in the middle of the city. The oldest 
of these, established by Murad I., is not accessible to the unfaithful, 
as it is the receptacle of the Kaaba relics brought home by 
pilgrims to Mecca. ]^ear to the " Muradyeh," is the " mosque of 
the three minarets," so-called because each of these minarets differ 
in shape, height, and style from the other. The third mosque, that 
of Selim II., is a magnificent building. It is the masterpiece of the 
great Ottoman builder, Sinan, who made it the finest house of 
worship in Turkey. 

Suleiman, after a most disastrous retreat through the Rhodope 
Mountains, and after lying encamped for over a week on the sea- 
shore, w^as embarked with his entire army at Kavala for Constan- 
tinople. The correspondent of the London Times gives the follow- 
ing description of the condition of the army : " The army was found 
in a miserable plight ; no tents, nor the slightest shelter for the men 
even at night. The poor fellows were stretched along the beach, 
seeking as best they could to keep themselves alive upon the scanty 
ration of a biscuit a day. Suleiman's headquarters were established 
in a ruined fort, a considerable distance from the shore, and here he 
was found by the Commodore, intent, it would seem, only upon his 
own escape, without one thought of the devoted army which had 
been reduced to such miserable straits through his incapacity and 
obstinacy, to call it by no worse a name. If ever a man was hated 
and detested, Suleiman Pasha is by all those who have lately served 
under his command. He is roundly accused of being the cause of 
all their disasters ; not a single voice in the army is heard in his 
favor, and charges of cruelty, neglect, and a criminal Avaste of op- 
portunities are laid to his door, which, if substantiated in the case 
of a General in another country, would lead to his death by order 

of court-martial Ths true story of this disastrous retreat 

will, perhaps, never be known ; a few of the details which I have 
gathered here suffice to brand Suleiman as a traitorous and cruel 



374 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



coward, who recklessly exposed tlie lives of his best men in the 
jealous desire to rid himself of generals who w^ere his more than 
rivals in renown. Suleiman deserted his sick and wounded, and 
lost all his guns ; and among other worse acts of which he is ac- 
cused, is that of having burned a hospital at Philippopolis contain- 
ing one hundred and eighty wounded." 

The Russians continued to advance steadily on their whole line 
toward Constantinople, and occupied the most important positions 
on their way without meeting with any opposition. 

^Negotiations for an annistice were begun soon after the fall of 
Adrianople, and were brought to a successful conclusion on January 
31st. During the whole of the negotiations the Russians continued 
their advance upon Constantinople. When the annistice was con- 
cluded they had advanced as far as Tchorlu, within a short distance 
of Tchataldja, which were the central and most important points of 
the defenses of the capital. Tchataldja had been fortihed during 1877, 
under the direction of Blum Pasha, a Prussian by birth, who had 
erected fifteen strong redoubts at this point. A considerable army 
had been gathered here under the command of Mukhtar Pasha. 
Even the armistice did not check the Russians in their career, as will 
be seen from the following telegrams from Mr. Layard to Earl Derby. 

On February 5th he telegraphed : Although armistice has been 
concluded, the Russians are pushing on to Constantinople. Not- 
withstanding the protest of the Turkish commander, the Turkish 
troops were compelled by General StrukoS to evacuate Silivi-ia last 
night, and the protest of the Turkish commander was refused. The 
Russian General declared that according to his orders it was abso- 
lutely necessary that he should occupy Tchataldja to-day." And on 
the following day he telegraphed : " The Russians have occupied 
Tchataldja in considerable force. The Russian General insisted 
upon the abandonment, by the Tm'ks, of the Tchekmedje lines as 
one of the conditions of the armistice, and the Turks have been 
compelled altogether to retire from them, leaving Constantinople 
quite undefended." The Russians continued to move their troops 
through Tchorlu, Tchataldja, and then along the coast of the Sea 
of Marmora to Eregli and Rodosto. On Febraary 21th, San 
Stefano, a suburb of Constantinople, situated on the Sea of Mar- 
mora, and but ten miles from the capital, was occupied by the 
Russians. On the Bosporus they advanced as far as Bujukdere, but 
did not enter this town. 



O.V TO CONSTANTINOPLE. 



375 



The Servians endeavored to secure, wliile hostilities were Ptill in 
proi^ress, as much of Old Servia as possible. One column, that 
of the Javor, operated along the southern border, occupying most 
of the important points np to Novi Yarosh, while another col- 
umn, starting from Nissa, proceeded southward, and occupied 
Yranya and Prishtina. The Servians were, however, not very well 
received in Old Servia, the inhabitants of which are, for the most 
part, Bulgarians, and do not entertain very friendly feelings for the 
Seiwians. A correspondent describes the manner in which the Ser- 
vians proceeded in toAvns conquered by them, as follows : 

" Wherever Servian troops and officials appear, the inhabitants of 
the villages and towns are called together to be sworn in collectively 
as Servian subjects. Their mc>iZw5^7'6)ca<^^7i^Z2^ deserves particular at- 
tention. As soon as a village has been taken, the Servian commander 
orders the inhabitants to appear in the town hall. Here they are 
received by the priest in full vestments, with the cross and the Bible 
in his hands, who announces to them, in very few words, that the 
Servian Prince Milan Obrenovitch lY. has set out to liberate the 
ancestral lands of the Servians from foreign rule. All the inhabitants 
of these lands would be from this time on citizens of Servia, enjoying 
equal nghts, and it was expected that they would be loyal subjects 
of the Prince. They should, therefore, now take the oath of alle- 
giance. After this ceremony had been gone through with, the priest 
kissed all the new Servians, while the military commandant embraced 
only the notables. The community then offered their presents, con- 
sisting chiefly of provisions, while the commandant gave to the elder 
a handful of ducats, which were regarded as a present of the new 
ruler." Widin, which had been invested by a force consisting of 
Rumanians and Servians, surrendered on Feb. 23d. The Ottomans 
marched out with arms and baggage before the Rumanian army, 
which then entered the fortress. The town had suffered much from 
the bombardment. The Christian and Rumanian inhabitants, num- 
bering, with the fugitives from Plevna and the environs of Widin, 
not fewer than TO, 000, gave the victors an enthusiastic reception. A 
few days before the armistice was concluded a deputation of leading 
inhabitants begged the governor to put a stop to useless conflict. 

After Suleiman Pasha had left Bulgaria with the gi-eater part of 
his army, the remainder gradually retreated on the one hand to Rust- 
chuk, and on the other to Shumla. On Jan. 24:th, the Czarevitcli 
finally crossed the Lom, occiij)ie:l Osman Bazar on the 27th, and 



376 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Easgrad on the 28tli, and tlien proceeded to invest Eust clink and 
Shumla. Eustcliuk was evacuated by the Turks on February 20th. 

Gen. Zimmermann, in the Dobrudja, after advancing as far as 
Trajan's Wall up to the middle of June, stopped there, and kept en- 
tirely on the defensive, with the exception of an occasional cavalry 
reconnoissance in the direction of Yarna. On Jan. 20, 1878, after 
a period of inactivity of over six months, he suddenly left his posi- 
tion at Medjidie and advanced against Bazardjik, where a force of 
about 10,000 were stationed. On the 22d, the Eussian advance 
guard engaged the Turkish outposts at Cair Harman, and occupied 
this place. On the 26th, after a short engagement, Bazardjik itseK 
was taken. The Turkish army, composed mainly of the Egyptian 
contingent, escaped to Yarna. 




A TURKISH BATTERY OVERTAKEN BY A STORM IN THE BALKANS. 



CHAPTER X. 

MOJSTTENEGEO AND THE GREEK PEOYINCES. 

Negotiations between Turkey and Montenegro broken oflf— The Turkish Armies Operat- 
ing against Montenegro — The Montenegrin Forces — Operations in the South — Ali 
Saib Repulsed — Suleiman Captures Kristatch, the Duga Pass, and Relieves Nicsic — 
Incapacity of the Montenegrin Leaders — Suleiman Captures Ostrok, and marches 
through Montenegro to join Ali Saib in the South — Suleiman and his Army sent 
to Rumelia — Prince Nicholas takes Nicsic and other Points in the Herzegovina — 
Cessation of Hostilities — The Montenegrins Capture Spizza and Antivari— Opera- 
tions against Scutari interrupted by the Armistice — Operations in the Greek Prov- 
inces and in Crete — Short participation of Greece in the War. 

Immediately upon the departure of the Montenegrin delegates 
from Constantinople, April 13th, Prince I^icholas addressed a note 
to the powers, in which he accused the Turks of having broken off 
negotiations because Montenegro demanded that refugees from Her- 
zegovina should be restored to their homes and the Kutchi prisoners 
liberated. The Prince declared that alone, without allies, but rely- 
ing on the abnegation of his subjects, he would, as in former times, 
desperately defend his territory against superior forces, hoping that 
if he were defeated. Christian Europe would save the women and 
the children. 

At the same time the Montenegrins again began blockading Nicsic, 
which had been regularly provisioned dm*ing the negotiations, and 
also showed considerable activity at various other points. But the 
Turkish army, owing to disease within its ranks, did not resume hos- 
tilities until the beginning of June. At that time a forward move- 
ment was made by the Turks from three different sides. On the 
southern border, Ali Saib advanced from Spuz up the valley of the 
Zeta with 30,000 men. In Herzegovina Suleiman Pasha was ad- 
vancing with 10,000 men, while Mehemet Ali Pasha, who com- 
manded the troops in Rascia, was to advance from the north-east 
with 53,000 men. But while the latter commander was to act on 
his own responsibility, the otlier two generals were to advance, the 
one from the north and the other from the south, and after joining 
their forces at Danilograd, proceed to conquer the country. Opposed 



380 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



to these forces the Montenegrins had about 25,000 men at the northern 
end of Duga Pass. Yukovitch invested Kristatch and the fort Goran- 
sko. Another part of the northern corps of the Montenegrins was 
at Presjeka and Osdrenitchi and invested I^icsic. A third part was 
gathered around Kolashin to oppose Mehemet Ali. In the south 
the main corps was stationed at Martinitza under the command of 
Petrovitch. The most difficult work was that allotted to Suleiman 
Pasha, whose main object was necessarily to relieve and provision 
first Kristatch and Goransko, and then I^icsic, and afterward march 
on to join Ali Saib. The distance from E"icsic to Spuz is twenty 
miles, while the width of Montenegro on this line is but fifteen miles. 
From the boundary to Danilograd, Suleiman Pasha had but twelve 
miles, and Ali Saib about four miles to march, so that if the two 
Turkish generals had once reached the boundary, they ought to have 
met within one day, provided they did not encounter any opposition. 

In the south, Ali Saib, after a few engagements, advanced, on 
June 6th, from Spuz against the main position of Petrovitch at 
Martinitza, but was repulsed after a long and severe engagement, 
and retreated to Spuz. From here he attempted, on the 7th, to 
march up the valley of the Moratcha, and to attack Petrovitch's flank, 
but finding him prepared, again retreated to Turkish territory. 
Petrovitch now took the ofTensive, and in the following days drove 
Ali Saib beyond Spuz, before which place he then encamped with- 
out formally investing it. He continued, however, to bombard 
Spuz, and to hold Ali Sail) in check until the middle of June, when 
the events in the north made it impossible for him to retain this 
position. 

In the north, Suleiman divided his troops into two columns, and 
marched them against Goransko and Kristatch, at the entrance to the 
Duga Pass. At the latter point the coi-ps of Gen. Yukovitch had 
erected fortifications, which the Turks attacked. At first they were 
repulsed, but afterward succeeded in forcing Gen. Yukovitch to 
retire to his second line of defense. The engagement was veiy 
sanguinary, the loss of the Turks being over 3,000 men, while that 
of the Montenegrins was also very large. 

At Goransko the Montenegrins were more successful. General 
Sotchitza repulsed the Turks under Ali Pasha, who then retreated 
to Muratovizza. The third Turkish column, which invaded Monte- 
negro in the district of Yassovitch, the extreme north-eastern comer 
of the principality, under the command of Mehemet Ali, was chiefly 



MONTENEGRO AND THE GREEK PROVINCES. 381 



intended to harass the Montenegrins, and draw their attention from 
the other points. 

The first task of Suleiman Pasha, after dislodging the Monte- 
negrins from Kristatch, was to relieve the garrison and provision the 
fort of Goransko, or Piva, as the Turks call it. With a view to this, 
he made a demonstration in the direction of Presyeka, whither the 
Montenegrins had retired, and strengthened the column under Ali 
Pasha, likewise making for Goransko. Thus reinforced, the column 
advanced and provisioned the fort. 

Suleiman Pasha then again took up his operations against ]N^icsic. 
After two days' fighting, lasting almost from morning till night, he dis- 
lodged the Montenegrins from their positions in the Duga Pass, and 
forced them to retire to Lakovo, toward Banyani. The Montenegrin 
force arrayed against l^icsic also left the plain, and Prince l^icholas 
transferred his headquarters from Planinitza, near Nicsic, back to 
Ostrok, on the heights in Montenegrin territory. The battle was 
very severe, and cost thousands of men on both sides. N^icsic was 
soon after relieved. 

The battle of Kristatch proved the incapacity of Gen. Yukovitch 
as a military leader. Both armies were exhausted after the battle, 
and that of Suleiman Pasha had no communication. The Montene- 
grins lost no positions, and might have maintained Kristatch against 
any further direct attack, or by following up the battle by an attack 
in full force with the six fresh battalions received a day or two later, 
might have forced Suleiman Pasha back on Gatchko, he being less 
able to sustain a renewal of the struggle than the Montenegrins. 
The interval of inaction which followed sufficiently proves this. In 
falling back on Presyeka, Yukovitch acted under exaggerated im- 
pressions of the strength of the Turkish force and apprehensions 
which had no proper basis. At Presyeka he made the graver mis- 
take of spreading his army along a thin line of four miles, the bat- 
talions being often without any means of intercommunication or 
supports, and concealed from one another, and in great part from their 
commander, by dense forests, owing to which he could not follow 
the operations. Some battalions received no orders at all. During 
the fighting which preceded the revictualling of I^icsic, the Turkish 
attack was concentrated on the right wing, two battalions of which, 
after a desperate fight of two hours, partly hand-to-hand, were driven 
in, and there being no supports, the rest of the wing was cut off and 

obliged to fall back. For two days many of the men had no food. 
20 



382 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



What made tlie blunder worse was tliat Yukovitch had decided not 
to oppose the further advance of Suleiman Pasha before the attack 
was made ; but, instead of immediately removing his troops and 
providing for the defense of Planinitza, the Montenegrin General 
waited till the Turks had entered l^icsic, when he was compelled to 
make a circuitous march of two days to reach the Prince, while the 
Turks, having rested two days, were in front of Planinitza, before a 
sufficient Montenegrin force had arrived to fortify and hold it. The 
defense of this strong position being thus impracticable, Prince 
ISTicholas fell back, followed by the Turks. 

Suleiman Pasha continued to advance very slowly, the road being 
obstinately contested by the Montenegrins. But, bravely as the 
Montenegrin soldiers fought, the utter incapacity of their leaders lost 
for them all the advantages gained by their bravery. It was a matter 
of great wonder at the time that the Russians did not provide Prince 
i^^icholas with capable officers. For, although according to consular 
reports, in the middle of June, Suleiman Pasha had 22,000 I'egulars 
and from 5,000 to 8,000 irregulars, against whom the Prince could 
only oppose 8,000 to 10,000, and the entire Turkish forces operating 
against Montenegro amounted to 60,000 men, the odds were no 
greater than those against which the Montenegrins had frequently 
successfully contended. 

On June lYth, Suleiman Pasha attacked Ostrok. This place, at 
which Prince Nicholas had taken up his headquarters, is a convent, 
built in a spacious cavern on the side of a cliff, which rises 400 feet 
above it. It was always the great stronghold and powder magazine 
of the Montenegrins, and is considered nearly impregnable, having 
been defended in 1768 by thirty men against 30,000 Turks. The 
convent was burned on June 20th. The fighting continued until 
the evening of the 21st. On the 22d, the Montenegrins remained 
quiet, and the Turks, improving this opportunity, gathered their 
forces on the heights between Ostrok and Gradatz. On the 23d, 
the Turks continued their march to the south, gaining but little 
ground, and continually harassed by Montenegrin detachments. 
Petrovitch, on June 22d, left his positions before Spuz in order to 
advance against Suleiman Pasha. Ali Saib, leaving his main force 
at Spuz, sent only an advanced guard after him. On June 23d, 
Suleiman Pasha began to descend from the heights of Ostrok into 
the valley of Gradatz, being continually attacked even by detach- 
ments from Petrovitch's main body. On the 24th, his advanced 



MONTENEGRO AND THE GREEK PROVINCES. 383 

guard finally met detachments of Ali Saib's troops at Gradatz. 
Dm'ing the eight days, from June 17tli to 24th, he had advanced at 
the most nine miles, and had lost, according to his own statements, 
631 dead and 864 wounded ; altogether, 1,495 men out of about 12,000 
combatants. The loss of the Montenegrins is not known, but it can 
not have been nearly as much as that of the Turks. On the other 
hand, it is generally believed that Suleiman Pasha lost many more 
men than he stated, and in fact than he could have known. The 
proposed march to Cettigne was now abandoned after the experience 
gained, and the two Pashas gathered their troops in the plains of 
Spuz and Podgoritza, and set to work to prepare them for embark- 
ation at Antivari, to go to a more important seat of war. 

Mehemet Ali undertook but one expedition. He sent his Bashi- 
Bazouks into the north-eastern part of Montenegro, where they 
devastated the country in a manner peculiar to them. 

After the departure of the Turkish troops. Prince JSTicholas again 
took the offensive and invested Mcsic. On July 22d and 23d sev- 
eral outlying works of this city were taken, and on September 8th, 
Nicsic itself surrendered, after a Turkish corps under Hafiz Pasha, 
which had be.en sent to relieve it, had been defeated. The fall of 
Nicsic was followed by that of Presyeka on the 16th, of Bilek on 
the 17th, and of the four forts in the Diiga Pass on the 18th of 
September. Montenegro thus came into possession of a part of 
Herzegovina, on whose final maintenance the Montenegrins could 
count all the more readily, as their conquests were only in the inte- 
rior, and as Austria therefore did not raise any objections to their 
holding them. For over a month there was now a cessation of hos- 
tilities, during which the Montenegrin troops were dismissed to their 
homes for the ostensible object of gathering their crops. The few 
regular Turkish troops which had remained behind, were stationed 
in ]^orthern Albania, under Ali Saib. In the beginning of ISTovem- 
ber, the Montenegrins again resumed operations, stormed several of 
the outlying works of Antivari on the 12th ; captured the fortress 
of Spizza on the 16th ; and having taken the town of Antivari 
shortly afterward, proceeded to a siege of the citadel. It was ex- 
pected that Ali Saib, who was at Scutari, would come to the relief 
of the garrison, as he was ordered to do by the Sultan. But he de- 
clared himself unable to perform this task, and the Montenegrins 
forced a surrender of the citadel on the 10th of January. The gar- 
rison at the time of the surrender consisted of 1,500 men under the 



384 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



command of Saban Bey and Selim Bey, while the civil population 
of the town numbered 2,600. The Montenegrins found here large 
quantities of arms and ammunition, comprising eighty barrels of 
powder, fifteen large cannon, and many small arms, all of which 
they could make good use of. As the Montenegrins were short of 
provisions, they were forced to dismiss the prisoners, the majority 
of whom were Albanians from the neighboring towns, to their 
homes. On January 19th, the Montenegrins attacked the fortified 
heights above Dulcigno, and carried them after a long and bloody 
fight, notwithstanding the severe firing which they suffered from a 
Turkish iron-clad in the road. One whole battalion of Turkish reg- 
ulars were taken prisoners. The same evening the town was 
stormed, and the garrison of the citadel, including several hundred 
Bashi-Bazouks, being driven out, took refuge on board the fieet. 
The Montenegrins then proceeded to invest Scutari. For this pur- 
pose they planted batteries commanding the river Boyana, thus cutting 
off the place from the sea, and successively occupied all the Turkish 
inland fortresses on the Lake of Scutari. Another Montenegrin force 
occupied the line of the Sieveno Eiver, effecting an interruption of 
communications between Podgoritza and Scutari. They were, how- 
ever, prevented from proceeding any further against Scutari by the 
conclusion of the armistice. 

The Greek provinces of Turkey, comprising Thessaly, Epirus, 
and the island of Crete, were the scene of great excitement during 
the war of 1877-'Y8. In Crete the l^ational Assembly demanded 
reforms of the Turkish Government, which were, however, not 
granted. The island, on the contrary, was completely blockaded by 
the Turkish fleet, while irregular troops were stationed at various 
points, ready to suppress any attempt at a rising. A revolutionary 
committee had established itself in the interior of the mountains, 
which were inaccessible to the Turkish troops, and gathered around 
itself large numbers of the discontented inhabitants. In February, 
1878, the revolutionary government proclaimed their annexation to 
Greece. In Thessaly the condition of the people was a truly miser- 
able one. Large bodies of irregular troops, together with bands of 
robbers, plundered the country, and the Turkish authorities were rep- 
resented as unable and unwilling to protect the population. A body 
of insurgents under a leader named Kastakis established itself in the 
mountains. No actions of any importance occurred, however, until 
on February 2, 1878, the Greek army crossed the frontier. The 



MONTENEGRO AND THE GREEK PROVINCES. 385 



action of the Greek Government in permitting this step was ex- 
plained by the following official declaration, published on Feb. Ist : 

" The Hellenic Government, moved by the sufferings in the 
Greek provinces of Turkey, has given orders for an army of 12,000 
men to cross the frontier to-morrow morning, and occupy Thessaly, 
Epirus, and Macedonia, for the purpose of maintaining public order 
and preventing massacres of Christians." 

On the following morning, a corps of 10,000 Greek troops and 
many thousand volunteers, under the command of General Soutzo, 
crossed the frontier into Thessaly. The Turkish troops, on the ap- 
proach of the Greek army, delivered up the keys of their barracks 
to the Greek commander, and withdrew to Domoco. The insur- 
gents, who co-operated with the Greeks, occupied Rendina. The 
Turks lost no time in threatening their new adversary on his most 
vuhierable side — the sea. The Turkish fleet under liobart Pasha 
was ordered to the Pirseus, and the news of its approach caused a 
great panic in the Greek capital and throughout the kingdom, more 
especially as there were only 600 troops in Athens, and only a small 
English gunboat in the Pirseus. The Government, however, at the 
request of the representatives of the powers, recalled its troops soon 
afterward. On February 14th, M. Kumunduros, the Minister Presi- 
dent, stated in the Chamber of Deputies, that the powers, having 
represented to Greece that if she continued her course of action 
alone, after the armistice was signed, she would forfeit their protec- 
tion, but if she suspended her military action, she might be assured 
of their support, the Government thought it w^as their duty to recall 
the army. This step caused much popular indignation among the 
Greeks, which was considerably augmented when great numbers of 
Christians from the villages in Thessaly evacuated by the Hellenic 
troops sought refuge in Greece, in consequence of the murders and 
savage aggression which were committed by the Bashi-Bazouks. 
The insurrection continued after the withdrawal of the Greek troops, 
although no actions of any importance occurred. 



CHAPTEK XL 



NAVAL O P E E A T I O If S . 

Russian Fleet on the Black Sea— Russian Fortifications on the Black Sea— Expedition of 
the " Constantine " — Destruction of Turkish vessels — Expedition to the mouths of 
the Danube — Capture of a Turkish Mail Steamer with a valuable cargo — Torpedoes — 
Their use in the present War. 

At the begiiniing of the war the Russian forces in the Black Sea 
consisted of two monitors, called "Popoffkas," four medium- 
sized screw corvettes, twelve smaller steamers, and an unknown 
number of smaller vessels for transport and packet seiwice. As will 
be seen from this statement, Russia did not have a single man-of-war 
on the Black Sea, her whole force in its waters being intended for 
defensive pui'poses only. The twelve steamers mentioned above had 
been bought from the Russian Society for steam navigation and 
commerce, and with the exception of three, which had been built 
recently, were all old vessels. The schooners and packet boats, 
among which was included the Imperial pleasure yacht " Livadia," 
were small screw steamers of wood or iron, carrying two fom-- 
pounders each. These vessels were not formed into squadrons; 
they were assigned to duty more with a view of aiding the local 
coast defense. The most important points of this are the fortifica- 
tions in the bay of Kherson, consisting of the two opposite forts of 
Oksakoff and Kieburn. Between Oksakoff and Odessa, the coast is 
inaccessible ; from the latter point to Akkerman, it is defended by 
strong fortifications, while the shore is hned with torpedoes. The 
weakest point between Nikolayeff and Odessa is the peninsula of 
Perekop, where there is an old wall which was erected by the Tar- 
tars, at the time of their rule over the Crimea, and which greatly 
resembles Trajan's Wall in the Dobrudja. It was formerly used as 
a defense against invasions, and at the beginning of the war of 1877 
was again intended to serve this purpose. The entire south side of 
the Crimea is strongly fortified ; earthworks have been erected at 

Sebastopol. Temporarv fortifications have also been erected at 
(386) 



NAVAL OPERATIONS. 



387 



Sudak, near Feodosia. The entrance to the Sea of Asov is closed by 
the works of Kertch, which consist of the batteries of Yeiii Kaleh, 
and the forts on the western point of the opposite peninsula of 
Taman. 

The activity of the Russian fleet on the Black Sea gave proof of 
great daring and bravery on the part of the Russian seamen. Even 
the first undertaking showed that they were not willing to relin- 
qnish all aggressive movements and to confine themselves to a defense 
of the coast. On the evening of May 12th, the steamer " Constan- 
tine " left Sebastopol for Batum ; after having proceeded for some 
distance, it stopped, and sent out four torpedo-boats, which suc- 
ceeded in applying a toi-pedo under a Turkish frigate. The tor- 
pedo did not ignite, and the alarm which was given compelled the 
Russian boats to seek safety in flight. On the morning of the 15th, 
the "Constantino" arrived with two of the torpedo-boats in Sebastopol, 
while the two others succeeded in reaching the harbor of Poti. An en- 
gagement which the Russian steamer " Yesta " had with a Turkish 
iron-clad at Kustendje on July 23d, resulted less fortunately for the 
Russians. The engagement lasted five hours, during which the rud- 
der of the " Yesta " was destroyed, while she received two damaging 
holes in the hull. It was owing only to the fact that a Russian bomb 
exploded in the turret of the monitor, that the latter desisted from 
continuing the engagement, and that the Russian steamer could re- 
turn to Sebastopol. On July 21st, the steamer "Argonaut" had 
reconnoitered the Kilia mouth of the Danube, and had encountered 
three Turkish iron-clads and ten merchantmen. A short engage- 
ment ensued, and in the evening the " Argonaut " returned safely to 
Oksakoff. 

The expeditions undertaken by the steamers " Elborus " and " Con- 
stantino," from July 30th to August 4th, were of greater importance 
than the previous expeditions, as showing the assurance with which 
the Russians went to work in these undertakings. The " Elborus " re- 
turned from a cruise to the coasts of Rumelia and Anatolia after 
having sunk a Turkish brig. The " Constantine " had, in the night 
from August 3d to 4th, advanced as far as the entrance of the Bos- 
porus, and at Kilia, near the European side of the strait, blew up 
by means of torpedoes a Turkish sailing vessel laden with grain, and 
destroyed three other Turkish vessels carrying petroleum. On August 
8th, a flotilla consisting of five larger vessels and four torpedo -sloops 
set out from Odessa under the protection of the two Popoffkas, the 



388 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



steamer Yladimir," and two torpedo-cutters, to which were after- 
ward added the steamers " Elborus " and " Argonaut " and the yacht 
" Livadia," and after a successful voyage, reached the Kilia mouth of 
the Danube, which it entered under the very eyes of a fleet of Turk- 
ish iron-clad s stationed at the Sulina mouth. The object of this 
successful expedition was to reinforce the Russian fleet in the Lower 
Danube, and to supply it with the material for torpedoes. 

On October 8th, another Russian flotilla, consisting of floating 
batteries and armored gun-boats, attacked the Turkish men-of-war 
lying before Sulina, and not only forced the entrance into the 
Danube, but also compelled the Turkish vessels to retreat to Yarna, 
where Hassan Pasha was stationed with several iron-clads. 

The only other action of importance on the Black Sea was the 
capture of the mail-steamer " Mersine " by two Russian vessels. The 

Mersine," which is described as a fine ship, and which had been 
but newly repaired, had on board a very valuable cargo, a large 
quantity of silver ore, on its way to the mint at Constantinople. 
There were also on board all the private papers and effects of Mukh- 
tar Pasha ; all the Government dispatches and orders which had 
been received from time to time, and it was by the merest chance 
that Mukhtar himself was not on the vessel. Beyond an occasional 
bombardment of Russian towns on the Black Sea by Hobart Pasha's 
squadron, nothing of any importance occurred up to the conclusion 
of the armistice. 

The Russians had a powerful weapon for their naval operations 
in the toi'pedoes which they employed. These instruments, as used 
in naval warfare, are of two kinds, stationary or defensive, and lo- 
comotive or offensive. The stationary torpedoes are sunk and 
arranged so as to keep at a fixed distance below the surface of the 
water. They are usually ignited by electric action. They were used 
by the Russians to great advantage during the Crimean war, while 
during the present war, it was said that the shores of the Black Sea 
were lined with them. The knowledge of which fact was probably 
the cause of the reluctance of the Porte to countenance the project 
of attacking the Russian towns on the Black Sea, which Hobart 
Pasha is understood to have urged. 

While the stationary torpedo was not called into use during the war 
of 18Y7 to 1878, th3 locomotive torpeao played a prominent part. 
The Turkish monitor destroyed on the Danube was attacked by tor- 
pe:lo-boats, while an unsuccessful attempt against oth.er Turkish ves- 




RUSSIAN TORPEDO BOATS ENGAGING THE BATTERIES NEAR SILISTRIA. 



NAVAL OPERATIONS. 



sels was made by a boat carrying a toi-pedo affixed to a long pole. 
At the extremity of the pole is fixed a metal case, made water-tight, 
containing a sufficient charge of gmipowder or other explosive, while 
from a battery on board electric wires are stretched along the pole to 
the fuse of the machine. At the right moment the pole is launched 
forward, and at the same time thrust beneath the water. Upon the 
torpedo's touching the object, the operator in the boat presses down 
the key, the electric circuit is closed, and the charge exploded. 

Yarious methods to protect vessels from torpedoes have been 
tried. Hobart Pasha surrounded his vessels off the mouth of the 
river Danube with a ckcle of boats and connecting - chains, and 
thereby secured them against a resolute attack. Crinoline frames 
have also been used, by which the locomotive torpedo is an-ested 
before striking the vessel, while English authorities recommend a 
flexible wire matting, which, yielding when struck, checks gradually 
and not suddenly the force of the explosive engine. 

The " lish," or " Whitehead torpedo," invented only recently by 
Mr. Whitehead, an English gentleman, is a cigar-shaped hull of iron 
or steel, containing a powerful charge, and a small locomotive engine 
worked by compressed air. When used, it is thrust out through a 
tube from the ship's side, and the engine being set in motion, it 
proceeds for several hundred yards beneath the surface, at a speed 
said to be as high as twenty miles an hour, till it strikes the vessel 
aimed at, when it explodes by concussion. These torpedoes have 
given eminent satisfaction, and a number of them were ordered by 
the Kussians. 



CHAPTEE XII. 



DIPLOMATIC HISTORY OF THE WAE. 

How the Declaration of War was received in Europe— England and Austria— Correspond- 
ence between the British and Russian Governments — Mr. Gladstone's Resolutions — 
The British Fleet in Besika Bay— The Vote of Credit in the British Parliament- 
Agitations in Austria-Hungary— The War Feeling in Servia— Prince Milan's Visit to 
the Czar— The Excitement in Greece— The Mouths of the Danube— The Salonica 
Murderers. 

The declaration of war intensified the anxiety whicli prevailed 
throughout Europe. The efforts which the powers had strenuously 
made during the past two years to preserve peace and prevent a 
rising of the Eastern Question, were defeated; and this dreaded 
question, with all of its contingencies and unknown perils, was again 
before the world, and would have to be met without evasion. A 
course of events was begun, of which no statesmanship could see 
the end, and which no power, perhaps not even all the nations com- 
bined, would be able to control. Of all the powers, Austria and 
England were most concerned ; for they foresaw that in case of 
Eussian victory, which all agreed must be the possible ending of the 
war, interests which they held near and precious would be put in 
doubt, and harm would ultimately come to the integrity of their 
dominions or to their prestige ; and the greatest uneasiness prevailed 
in these countries, both in government circles and among the people, 
during the whole course of the war, despite the official proclamations 
of neutrality which were promptly issued, and despite the often- 
repeated declarations of their ministers of adhesion to the attitude of 
neutrality which they had assumed in the beginning. These decla- 
rations, however, were never absolute, but were always qualified by 
the reservation that the policy of neutrality would be observed only 
as long as British or Austrian interests were not endangered ; and 
they received a curious commentary in the movements which were 
quietly instituted under the eye of the Government, in England at 
least, looking to preparation to be ready for action when the time 
(392) 



DIPLOMATIC HISTORY OF THE WAR. 



393 



for decision should come. In Austria, tne Hungarian party, and in 
England, the extreme wing of the Conservative party, urged active 
demonstrations against the Turks ; and theii' efforts were barely 
kept in check by the more prudent pohcy of the Yiennese Cabinet 
and the sturdy opposition of the English Liberals to every act which 
could bear the appearance of favoring the continuance of Turkish 
oppression of Christian peoples. 

The first expression of the British Government upon the questions 
at issue after the declaration of war was given in a communication 
of Earl Derby, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to Lord 
Loftus, British Ambassador at St. Petersburg, communicating the 
reply of the Government to the Eussian circular announcing the 
commencement of hostilities. The dispatch stated that her Maj- 
esty's Government had received the announcement made by the 
Eussian Government with deep regret, and could not accept the 
statements and conclusions with which Prince Gortchakoff had ac- 
companied it, as justifying the resolutions taken. " The protocol," 
the dispatch continued, " to which her Majesty's Government, at 
the instance of that of Eussia, recently became parties, required 
from the Sultan no fresh guarantees for the reform of his adminis- 
tration. With a view of enabling Eussia the better to abstain from 
isolated action, it affirmed the interest taken in common by the 
powers in the condition of the Christian populations of Turkey. It 
went on to declare that the powers would watch carefully the 
manner in which the promises of the Ottoman Government were 
carried into effect ; and that should their hopes be once more disap- 
pohited, they reserved to themselves the right to consider in com- 
mon the means which they might deem best fitted to secure the 
well-being of the Christian populations and the interests of the 
general peace. 

" To these declarations of the intentions of the powers, the consent 
of the Porte was not asked or required. The Porte, no doubt, has 
thought fit — unfortunately, in the opinion of her Majesty's Gov- 
ernment — to protest against the expressions in question as implying 
an encroachment on the Sultan's sovereignty and independence. 
But while so doing, and while declarmg that they can not consider 
the protocol as having any binding character on Turkey, the Turk- 
ish Government have again affirmed their intention of carrying into 
execution the reforms already promised. 

" Her Majesty's Government can not therefore admit, as is con- 



394 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



tended bj Prince Gortchakoff, that the answer of the Porte removed 
all hope of deference on its part to the wishes and advice of Europe, 
and all security for the application of the suggested reforms, i^or 
are they of opinion that the terms of the note necessarily precluded 
the possibility of the conclusion of peace with Montenegro, or of 
the arrangement of mutual disarmament. Her Majesty's Govern- 
ment still believes that, with patience and moderation on both sides, 
these objects might not have improbably been attained. 

"Prince Gortchakoff, however, asserts that all opening is now 
closed for attempts at conciliation ; that the Emperor has resolved 
to undertake the task of obtaining, by coercion, that which the 
unanimous efforts of all the powers have failed to obtain from tho 
Porte by persuasion ; and he expresses his Imperial Majesty's con- 
viction that this step is in accordance with the sentiments and in- 
terests of Europe. 

" It can not be expected that her Majesty's Government should 
agree in this view. They have not concealed their feeling that the 
presence of large Russian forces on the frontiers of Turkey, menac- 
ing its safety, rendering disarmament impossible, and exciting a 
feeling of apprehension and fanaticism among the Mussulman popu- 
lation, constituted a material obstacle to internal pacification and 
reform. They can not believe that the entrance of those armies on 
Turkish soil will alleviate the difficulty or improve the condition of 
the Christian population throughout the Sultan's dominions. 

" But the course on which the Russian Government has entered 
involves graver and more serious considerations. It is in contra- 
vention of the stipulation of the Treaty of Paris of March 30, 
1856, by which Russia and the other signatory powers engaged, 
each on its own part, to respect the independence and the territorial 
integrity of the Ottoman Empire. In the Conference of London of 
18Y1, at the close of which the above stipulation, with others, was 
again confirmed, the Russian Plenipotentiary, in common with 
those of the other powers, signed a declaration, affirming it to be 
'an essential principle of the law of nations that no power can 
liberate itself from the engagements of a treaty, nor modify the 
stipulations thereof, unless with the consent of the contracting par- 
ties by means of an amicable arrangement.' 

" In taking action against Turkey on his own part, and having 
recourse to arms without further consultation with his allies, the 
Emperor of Russia has separated himself from the European con- 



DIPLOMATIC HISTORY OF THE WAR. 



395 



cert hitherto maintained, and has at the same time departed from 
the rule to which he himself had solemnly recorded his consent. 

" It is impossible to foresee the consequences of such an act. Her 
Majesty's Government would willingly have refrained from making 
any observations in regard to it ; but, as Prince Gortchakoff seems 
to assume, in a declaration addressed to all the G-overnments of Eu- 
rope, that Russia is acting in the interest of Great Britain and that 
of the other powers, they feel bound to state, in a manner equally 
formal and public, that the decision of the Russian Government is 
not one which can have their concurrence or approval." 

To this note the Russian Government made no formal reply ; but 
a statement was published by the Russian news agency, which was 
considered as its informal reply. This dispatch remarked that there 
would be no Russian rejoinder, for " to send one would be to carry 
on a controversy^ when it was a question of making history." En- 
gland's apprehensions of future complications were, so far as Russia 
was concerned, utterly unfounded ; but the powers which seriously 
desired to re-establish an understanding and a guarantee of general 
peace must seek a new basis more in conformity with circumstances, 
without further dwelling on mistaken views of past results, which 
are the best refutation of the English dispatch. 

As respects the Treaty of 1871, appealed to in this dispatch, it 
might be asked if the Porte was not the iirst to break the engage- 
ment of the preceding Treaty of 1856. If the English Cabinet 
maintained that the Porte was not bound by it, then that treaty would 
only have served to guarantee the Porte's entire impunity. All the 
documents of that period proved, on the contrary, that the Christian 
powers did not mean to defend a regime oppressive for Christians. 
They simply decided against the exclusive protection of Russia. 
They substituted for it the common protection of Europe. The 
rights and duties attaching thereto they have often exercised. 

The article cited instances of intervention which had taken place 
since the treaty went into effect, such as the Andrassy note, the 
Berlin memorandum, and others, and added : 

Results have proved that these platonic interventions led to 
nothing. If the English Cabinet regards the Treaty of 1856 as 
important, that interpretation will hardly be accepted by Europe, 
or even by the English nation, especially not by the Russian Gov- 
ernment or nation. In the interest of this treaty the common 
action and pressure of Europe should have been exerted. Russia 



39^ 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



has done everything for this pui-pose. Her efforts vrere fi-uitless. 
It only remained for Kussia to execute alone the duty which the 
other cabinets, agreeing with her in principle, hesitated to assume 
in practice. The Imperial Cabinet is justified in affirming that it 
is acting in conformity with the sentiments and interests of Europe. 
The English Cabinet can not extricate itself fi'om this dilemma 
except by proclaiming that England is the first Mussulman power 
in the world, and that she consequently wishes for the maintenance 
of Tm'kish dominion over Christians, even at the cost of their exter- 
mination. "We hold the English nation in too great esteem to be- 
lieve it would sanction such a policy." 

On the 6th of May Earl Derby addi-essed to Count Shuvaloff, 
the Russian Ambassador, who was about leaving for St. Petersburg, 
a note on the position of England toward the belligerents. After 
stating that the British Government had from the first warned the 
Turkish Government that it must not look to them for assistance, 
and that they were determined to cany impartially into effect the 
policy thus announced, so long as Turkish interests alone were in- 
volved, the note continued : 

Should the war now in progress unfortunately spread, interests 
may be imperilled which they (the British Government) are equally 
bound and determined to defend ; and it is desirable that they should 
make it clear, as far as at the outset can be done, what the most 
prominent of those interests are. Foremost among them is the 
necessity of keeping open, uninjured and uninterrupted, the com- 
munication between Europe and the East by the Suez Canal. An 
attempt to blockade or otherwise to interfere with the canal oi* its 
approaches, would be regarded by them as a menace to India, and 
as a grave injury to the commerce of the world. On both these 
grounds any such step —which they hope and fully believe there is 
no intention on the part of either belligerent to take — would be 
inconsistent with the maintenance by them of passive neutrality." 

Speaking of the ultimate fate of Constantinople, the note con- 
tinued : 

The vast importance of Constantinople, whether in a military, 
a political, or commercial point of view, is too well understood to 
require explanation. It is, therefore, scarcely necessary to point out 
* that her Majesty's Government are not prepared to T^itness with 

indifference the passing into other hands than those of its present 
possessors, of a capital holding so peculiar and important a position. 



DIPLOMATIC HISTORY OF THE WAR. 



397 



The existing arrano-ements made under European sanction, which 
regulate the navigation of the Bosporus and Dardanelles, appear 
to them wise and salutary, and there would be, in their judgment, 
serious objections to their alteration in any material particular." 

Other points were referred to in the note as involving interests 
which the course of the war might show it to be necessary to pro- 
tect, the principal of which was the Persian Gulf. These state- 
ments were intended to indicate the limits within which the British 
Government hoped that the war might be restrained, or, at least, 
the limits which, so far as the present circumstances would per- 
mit the formation of a definite opinion, would confine its policy ol 
abstention and neutrality. 

The Russian Government replied to this note May 18th, express- 
ing an appreciation of the " frankness of explanations the object 
of which was to clear up the misunderstandings between the two 
Governments," and continuing with an exposition, in the same 
frankness and with the same clearness," of its own views, both 
upon the points mentioned by Lord Derby, and upon those which 
touched the interests which the Czar on his side considered it liis 
duty to protect. On the points named in Earl Derby's dispatch, 
the note said : " The Imperial Cabinet will neither blockade, nor 
interrupt, nor in any way menace the navigation of the Suez Canal. 
I consider the canal an international work, important to the com- 
merce of the whole world, which should remain free from every 
attack. Egypt is a part of the Ottoman Empire, and its contingents 
figure in the Turkish army. Russia might, therefore, consider her- 
self as at war with Egypt. ^Nevertheless, the Imperial Cabinet does 
not overlook either the European interests engaged in the country, 
or those of England in particular. They will not bring Egypt 
■\^dthin the radius of her operations. As far as concerns Constan- 
tinople, without being able to prejudge the course or issue of the 
war, the Imperial Cabinet repeats that the acquisition of that capi- 
tal is excluded from the views of his Majesty the Emperor. They 
recognize that in any case the future of Constantinople is a question 
of common interest, which can not be settled otherwise than by a 
general understanding, and that if the possession of that city were 
to be put in question, it could not be allowed to belong to any of 
the European powers. As regards the Straits, although their two 
shores belong to the same sovereign, they form the only outlet of 
two great seas, in which all the world has interests. It is, therefore, 



398 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



important, in the interests of peace and of the general balance of 
power, that this question should be settled by a common agreement 
on equitable and efficiently guaranteed bases." As to British inter- 
ests in the Persian Gulf and tlie route to India, the Imperial Gov- 
ernment declared that it would not extend the war further than was 
reqnired by the clearly declared purpose for which the Emperor had 
been obliged to take up arms, and would regard British interests so 
long as England should remain neutral. It expected, in turn, that 
the English Government would equally regard the interests which 
Russia sought to promote in the war, and for which it was making 
great sacrifices ; which interests involved the necessity of putting 
an end to the deplorable condition of the Christians under Turkish 
rule, and to the periodical crises which it provoked. This object 
could not be attained till the Christian populations of Turkey are 
placed in a situation in which their existence and their security shall 
be effectively guaranteed against the intolerable abuses of the Turk- 
ish administration. This interest, vital for Russia, was in contradic- 
tion to none of the interests of Europe, which suffered, in its turn, 
from the precarious condition of the East. The Imperial Cabinet 
had desired to pursue its object with the concurrence of the powers ; 
but, obliged to pursue it alone, his Imperial Majesty was resolved 
not to lay down arms till he had completely, securely, effectively 
realized it. 

On the 30th of April Mr. Gladstone gave notice in the House of 
Commons of the introduction of five resolutions recording the dis- 
satisfaction of the House at the conduct of the Ottoman Govern- 
ment regarding the dispatch of the British Government on the 
Bulgarian atrocities ; declaring that until such conduct should be 
essentially changed and substantial guarantees for future good 
government given, the Porte would have lost all claim to the moral 
and material support of the British Crown ; advising that British 
influence be used to secure local liberties and practical self-govern- 
ment for the disturbed provinces, so as to secure them from op- 
pression without imposing on them any other foreign dominion ; 
advising that it should also be addressed to promoting the concert of 
the European Powers in exacting from the Porte, by their united 
authority, such changes as might be effectual for the purposes of 
humanity, for defense against intrigue, and for securing the peace of 
Europe ; and asking that an address to the crown embodying the 
substance of the resolutions might be prepared and presented. The 




QUEEN VICTORIA. 



GLADSTONE. 



DIPLOMATIC HISTORY OF THE WAR. 



debate on the resolutions began on tlie Yth of May, and was con- 
tinued during tbe week till the 14:th, when the first one was rejected 
by a vote of 354 to 223, after which the others were withdrawn. 
Mr. Gladstone failed to receive the full support of his Liberal col- 
leagues on this occasion, a meeting of the Liberal members having 
resolved that in view of the overshadowing importance of British 
interests in the East, it would not be advisable to go as far in their 
declarations of hostility to Turkey as he would have tliem. He 
was, nevertheless, supported by an influential portion of the ]jress, 
and had a large and devoted following among the people. Among 
others who gave expressions of their sympathy with his views, was 
the brilliant historian and pamphleteer, Thomas Carlyle, who said 
in a letter published in the London Times : 

As to ^ British interests,' there is none visible or conceivable to 
me, except taking strict charge of our route to India by the Suez 
and Egypt ; and, for the rest, resolutely steering altogether clear of 
any copartnery with the Turk in regard to this or any other ' Brit- 
ish interest ' whatever. It should be felt by England as a real 
ignominy to be connected with such a Turk at all. Nay, if we 
still had, as, in fact, all ought to have, a wish to save him from per- 
dition and annihilation in God's world, the one future for him that 
has any hope in it is even now that of being conquered by the 
Kussians and gradually schooled and drilled into a peaceable attempt 
at learning to be himself governed. The newspaper outcry against 
Eussia is no more respectable to me than the howling of Bedlam, 
proceeding, as it does, from the deepest ignorance, egotism, and 
paltry national jealousy." 

The British Mediterranean squadron returned to Besika Bay on 
the 3d of July; after an absence from that port of about six months. 
This station, which has been frequently mentioned in connection 
with the later transactions of Great Britain with the Porte, is a 
small bay in the coast of Asia Minor nearly opposite the island of 
Tenedos, and under the plains of the Troad. It is very near the 
entrance to the Dardanelles, and is the nearest harbor to Constanti- 
nople which an armed vessel can approach without entering the 
straits and thereby violating the Treaty of Paris. The fleet had 
been ordered to the Bay in 1876, and kept there for several months 
during the hostile operations of the year, for the purpose, as waii 
generally believed at the time, of signifying to the Czar that he 
would have to count with England in case of any aggression upon 



402 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



tho Sultan's rights — or, as was stated by Earl Derby some tirae 
afterward, to protect the Europeans and the native Christians of 
Constantinople in case of any outbreak of Mussulman fanaticism. 
"When Lord Salisbury arrived at Constantinople at the time of the 
conference, in December, 1876, he found that the Turks were pos- 
sessed with a fixed idea that, do what they might, England 
would never allow them to be attacked ; and the fleet was 
withdrawn at that time, and transferred to the Piraeus (the 
harbor of Athens) at his request, not so much, as it was said, 
to mark the displeasure of the British Government at the 
obstinacy of the Turks, as to convey to them, by unmistakable signs, 
that they had nothing to expect from England in case they should 
be involved in a war with Russia. The return of the fleet at this 
time was regarded as designed to convey an intimation to Eussia that 
England would not quietly see it proceed too far in its aggressions. 
Considerable reinforcements were sent to the squadron during the 
following weeks, while large numbers of troops were concentrated at 
Malta, and the impression grew that England was preparing to take 
a part in the war. In the face of these active preparations the 
ministers declared in both Houses of Parliament that their intentions 
were still peaceful, and stated that the fleet had been ordered to re- 
turn to Besika Bay for convenience of communication with the 
Government at home, and the Ambassador at Constantinople, and in 
no way with the intention of making a menace, and that the move- 
ments of troops had been ordered simply because it had been found 
desirable, in view of the disturbed condition of Europe, to bring up 
the garrisons in the Mediterranean to their full strength. On the 
10th of August, just before the prorogation of Parliament, the 
Chancellor of the Exchequer declined to say whether the Govern- 
ment would regard the temporary occupation of Constantinople by 
the Russians as so far inconsistent with British interests as to dis- 
turb the friendly relations of Great Britain with Russia. On the 
next day, in reply to a request made by Mr. Fawcett for a pledge 
from the Government, that if during the recess, they felt it neces- 
sary to depart from their attitude of neutrality, they would call 
Parliament together before taking any decisive step, the Chancellor 
said that the Government were fully aware of their constitutional 
obligations, and determined to act up to them. 

The new session of Parliament for 1878 was called to meet on the 
17th of January, three weeks before the usual time of opening the 



DIPLOMATIC HISTORY OF THE WAR. 



403 



session. Russian success had become an established fact, and tlie 
friends of Turkey were known to be in great anxiety. Speculation 
was rife concerning the objects of the Ministry in hastening the ses- 
sion, and apprehensions w^ere expressed by many members of the 
anti-Tnrkish party that they would commit the country to some act 
that would compromise it with Russia, and ask Parliament, in the 
heat of the temporary excitement, to sanction it. The Queen stated 
in her speech that, in view of the successes of the Russian arms in 
Europe and Asia, the Turkish Government had sought her friendly 
offices in the interests of peace ; that she had exercised them ; tliat 
through them communications had taken place between the Govern- 
ments of Russia and Turkey, and that a favorable conclusion was 
hoped for. ^Nevertheless, should hostilities unfortunately be pro- 
longed, some unexpected occurrence might render it necessary for 
the Government to adopt measures of precaution, and the liberality 
of Parliament was appealed to, to supply the means which might be 
required for that purpose. The Ministry asked a supplemental vote 
of credit of £6,000,000 for military and naval services. The meas- 
ure was opposed by a fraction of the Liberals, but tlie rapid advance 
of the Russians toward Constantinople had had the effect of consol- 
idating the public opinion of the country in favor of giving the 
Government a firm support, and placing it in a position to assume 
a vigorous attitude, if necessary, and the vote was passed in the 
House of Commons on the 8th of February, by the decisive vote of 
328 to 124. 

A Ministerial Council, held at Constantinople on the 10th of 
June, to consider the case of the Suez Canal, decided not to con- 
sider it as wholly neutral, but to reserve a full right over this part 
of the territory of the Empire not less than over any other, and par- 
ticularly the right of preventing Russian ships from using the arti- 
ficial water-way. It agreed, however, by stationing a naval force 
at the entrance of the canal, to insure the freedom of navigation, 
and prevent the canal from becoming the theater of any conflict. 

The declarations of the Austro-Huno;arian Government were 
more reserved than those of Great Britain. It seemed to be acting 
under hesitating councils, and to be watching the course of events 
before deciding what position to assume. The Ministers made iden- 
tical replies interpellations in both . the Chambers at Yienna and 
Pesth, on the 4th of May, to the effect that the Government was 
not tied by any kind of engagement, but had reserved the fullest 



404 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



freedom of action, and that ' 'Austria-Hungary maintains an atti- 
tude of benevolent interest in the Christian subjects of the Porte, 
and, while observing strict neutrality, reserves the right to protect 
its own interests, or intervene with, efforts for the cessation or local- 
izing of the conflict. The Ministers recognize the Empire's intimate 
connection with, and interest in, the affairs of European Turkey, but 
deem a resort to warlike measures for their protection unnecessary, 
in view of the attitude of the other powers and the cordial support 
the Government can command from the representatives of the 
people wlienever action becomes necessary." The Slavic and Mag- 
yar populations, however, gave full expression to their sympathies — 
the former for Russia and the latter for Turkey — and the Empire 
was kept in a state of agitation during the whole period of the con- 
tinuance of hostilities. The Magyars sought, by interpellations in 
the Chambers, to commit the Government, and by pamphlets and 
speeches to commit the people, to an attitude of definite hostility to 
Eussia. The Croats, on the other hand, took advantage of a visit 
of the Archduke Albert to Agram, in May, to make a demonstra- 
tion of sympathy with Russia, and the Czechic National Party in 
Bohemia entered into communication with the Pan-Slavists ; but 
their enthusiasm was unexpectedly dampened when Aksakoff, the 
Pan-Slavic leader, invited them to leave the Roman Catholic and 
unite with the Greek Church. After this, the Archbishop of 
Prague forbade the clergy participating in the Slavic demonstra- 
tions. 

The influence of the Austrian Government upon the course of 
Russia was again perceived when, just after the Russian troops had 
crossed the Danube, the Czar declined to accept the active assist- 
ance of Rumania. On the 26th of June, Mr. Tisza, President of 
the Hungarian Council, had declared that the monarchy was 
resolved not to tolerate the seizure of a neighboring territory by a 
foreign power, and had answered attacks which had been made 
upon the Government by stating that the army was completely 
equipped and ready to undertake a campaign, and that the Govern- 
ment could, for that reason, calmly and securely look events in the 
face, knowing that it was at liberty to act according to its judg- 
ment, and prepared to act as soon as occasion should arise. One 
month later, the fact was learned that Russia had accepted the co- 
operation of the Rumanian troops ; the introduction of a Russian 
civil administration into Bulgaria was held to signify an intention 



DIPLOMATIC HISTORY OF THE WAR. 



to occupy tlie province permauentlj ; and rumors began to prevail 
that Servia would after all enter the contest. A Cabinet Council 
was held at Yienna, at whicli the subjects of mobilizing several 
divisions of the army, and of occupying Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
were discussed. No resolution was taken, but Count Andrassy was 
invested with full powei*s. A few days afterward, the Emperors of 
Austria and Germany met in consultation at Ischl. The inter\^ew 
was said to have been one of formalities and courtesies, in which a 
few questions respecting the trade relations of the two countries 
were spoken of, but nothing of importance was said concerning the 
Eastern Question ; but it was followed by a marked change in the 
tone of the Austrian journals — a sudden subsidence of the excite- 
ment under which they had discussed the events of the day. The 
time and circumstances of the interview, and the quiet in Austria 
which followed it, all gave color to the impression which pre- 
vailed, that a concert existed between Austria and Germany — an 
impression which was confirmed by events which happened later. 
The semi-official papers of Berlin and Yienna professed to regard 
the interview as a demonstration of the continued existence of the 
alliance of the three Emperors. 

Servia had just come out from a disastrous war with Turkey, at 
the conclusion of which it had secured terms of peace, which were, 
considering the relative situation of the belligerents, unexampled in 
their liberality. A sense of propriety and prudence, under these cir- 
cumstances, should have counseled the observance of a scrupulous 
neutrality ; but the same party which had forced the principality 
into a war in 1876, began its agitations as soon as the Russian decla- 
ration of war was issued, to plunge it into the new struggle. Sim- 
ilar measures of pressure were brought to bear to those which were 
applied successfully in 18Y6. Bills were posted on the walls of 
Belgrade threatening Prince Milan with dethronement if he did not 
renew hostilities. The Government was forced, in view of this 
pressure, as well as by the possibility that a contingency might 
arise which would make some action necessary, to adopt measures 
of precaution and preparation. Still, the Ministers insisted that 
their intention was to preserve peace. Servia was fortunately pre- 
vented, by influences other than those originating within its own 
borders — influences which even its war-party could not ignore — 
from participating in the war at this stage. 

In the latter part of May, the intention of Prince Milan was 



4o6 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



made known to seek an interview with the Czar. The news caused 
profound di&satisf action in the Cabinet at Yienna, which objected? 
for reasons connected with the internal peace of the Empire, to 
Servia taking any part in the war. The feelings of the Austrian 
Government were promptly communicated to the Czar and Prince 
Milan. There were sufficient obstacles of etiquette in the way of 
the Prince's making the proposed visit before the objections of 
Austria were made known ; these added to them. In the first place, 
it was difficult for a vassal of the Sultan to visit the armed enemy 
of the latter without giving offense to his suzerain ; in the second 
place, the Prince, who could by no means claim an equality or even 
an approach to it, in rank with the Czar, could not visit him with- 
out having first gained his permission, and this proved not easily 
obtained. These difficulties were, however, removed by skillful 
diplomacy, and on the 12th of June the Servian Premier announced 
to the agents of the Foreign Powers at Belgrade that the Prince, 
with three of his generals, would visit the Czar at Ployeshti, explain- 
ing also that his Highness had notified the Porte of his intended 
step in such a way as it was hoped would prevent any misunder- 
standing or irritation. At the same time that the Prince received 
permission to visit the Czar, the announcement was made that 
Russia had intimated, far more positively than it had done before, 
that it was its will that Servia should keep aloof from the war. The 
visit of Milan was made the means of removing any doubts which 
Ser\da might still have had of what was expected of it. The Prince 
was received kindly, although the interview was confined, so far as 
the world has learned, to formalities, and he retm-ned to Servia 
apparently well satisfied. At the opening of the Skupstchina, on 
the 1st day of July, he expressed the behef that the sacrifices made 
by Servia in the war against Turkey had not been in vain. When, 
after consulting with the great national Skupstchina, he had con- 
cluded a peace with the Porte, he had told his people that the care 
of the Christians of the East was now in more vigorous hands than 
those of Servia, and the war could be interrupted without peril to 
the cause which had drawn the country into it. Events had quickly 
confirmed his words, and the victorious standards of the Czar- 
liberator, at the head of his heroic army, were waving not far from 
the boundary. During his visit to Ployeshti, he had received satis- 
factory assurances from the Czar, who had promised him that he 
would always have a regard for Servian interests. The Skupstchina 



DIPLOMATIC HISTORY OF THE WAR. 



407 



sliould proceed with the greatest caution, as the interests of Servia 
would be imperilled by every wrong step. 

New signs of warlike activity were manifested in Servia during 
September. A ministerial council was held during the first week 
of the month, presided over by Prince Milan, the result of which 
was reported to be a resolution to engage in the war. No declara- 
tion of war was made as yet, but renewed energy was exercised in 
preparation. An order was issued by the Minister of War on the 
5th, commanding all militia-men of the first class to be at their 
depots on the 13th, while those of the second class should hold 
themselves in readiness to march. This threatening attitude of the 
principality called out remonstrances from the diplomatic corps, the 
English and German agents pointing out that if Servia took up arms 
against the Porte, the guaranteeing powers would be placed in a 
difficult position, and dwelling with stress on the gravity of the con- 
sequences which would ensue to Servia itself in the event of defeat, 
since the Turks would not be inclined to treat its vassal with the 
same indulgence as it had exercised in 1876. 

An interview took place between the Chancellors of Austria 
and Germany, Count Andrassy and Prince Bismarck, at Salzburg, 
on the 19th of September, the character and results of which were 
not made pubhc. A few days afterward the Austrian and Hun- 
garian Premiers made important declarations in their respective 
chambers. Mr. Tisza, in the Hungarian Chamber, on the 2Yth, 
stated that there was no reason to change the policy of neu- 
trality, to which it was due at this time that the interests of 
the monarchy were not threatened in any w^ay by the European 
complications. He did not believe that this policy was contrary to 
the wishes of the Hungarian people, and he declared the charge 
that the neutrality had been observed in a manner favorable to 
Russia, unfounded. What the Government desired was to protect 
the interests of the country, in a peaceable manner as long as pos- 
sible, but to protect them at all hazards. If Servia should break 
the peace, Austro-Hungary would not prevent Turkey from pro- 
ceeding against it. The triple alliance imposed no particular obli- 
gations upon the powers concerned, either in the Eastern or in any 
other question. The whole of this so-called alliance consisted in- 
this, that the three Emperors and their Governments agreed, in the- 
interest of European peace, to come to an understanding on any 
question that might arise. This understanding had prevailed for 



4o8 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



several years — siii^e 1873 ; and even at this tinie the fact that the 
war had not become a European one must, in part at least, be 
attributed to the friendly relations of the three powers. The fact 
that one of these three Governments, against the opinion of the two 
others, had begun a war, created no obligation concerning the 
Eastern Question as regru^ded either of these two other powers, and 
none certainly as regarded the Austro-Hungarian Government. " On 
our side," M. Tisza added, " it has been declared from the beginning 
that, whatever the issue of the war may be, nothing shall be done 
of which we disapprove." 

In the latter part of September a secret project for helping the 
Turks was discovered in Transylvania, that part of the Anstro- 
Hungarian monarchy lying furthest east, and bordering on Rumania. 
Its object was reported to be the formation of a Hungarian legion 
of five thousand mcD, who were to meet at a certain point in the 
mountains forming the frontier between the two countries, with a 
view of making an irruption into Rumania. Several hundred 
stands of arms, with a considerable quantity of ammunition and 
other articles, were seized in various places close to the Rumanian 
frontier. Many arrests were made, and a large number of promi- 
nent Hungaiians were implicated in the affair. Among them was 
General Klapka, a distinguished participant in the revolution of 
184:8, who, however, denied all complicity in the plot, and declared 
that he would have discountenanced the foiTQation of a Hungarian 
legion had he known of it, because he considered that it would be 
useless to Turkey, and could only result in divisions among the 
Hungarians. 

A note was sent by the Turkish to the Servian Government, about 
the beginning of October, demanding explanations regarding its 
pui-pose in arming and in entering into negotiations with Russia and 
Rumania, and more particularly regarding the presence of the Rus- 
sian Consul-General at Belgrade, who had arrived there during 
September. The Porte declared it would be obliged to send a spe- 
cial commissioner to Belgrade, to inquire whether its sovereign 
rights were not being tampered with. In answer to this note, M. 
Christitch, the Servian Envoy at Constantinople, on October 30th 
communicated a dispatch to the effect that the attitude of Servia 
did not justify the complaints of the Porte ; that its mihtaiy 
measures were designed solely to protect its frontier; and that 
Servia hoped for the maintenance of good relations with Turkey. 



DIPLOMATIC HISTORY OF THE WAR. 



Prince Milan made an address to tlie troops in Belgrade on the 2d 
of Deceml)er, in wliich he thanked the army for the exertions it had 
made in the war of 18Y6, wliich war had led to the Turko-Russian 
striiffffle, and wonld lead to the liberation of the Christians in the 
Turkish Empire ; pointed ont that the chance for Servia was now 
much better than it had been in the previous year, for the country 
was better prepared and had the support of a powerful ally ; and 
assured the troops that he himself would share in the fatigues of the 
campaign. This speech removed all the doubts which may have 
previously existed as to the intentions of the Government to enter 
into tlie war, and no surprise was felt when the declaration of war 
was published on Dec. 14:th. 

In Greece, the Russian declaration of war called forth, on May 
6th, an anti-Turkish demonstration. A number of students, num- 
bering from 1,500 to 2,000, proceeded to the house of the Prime 
Minister, calling for an immediate declaration of war. The minister 
answered that circumstances did not make war necessary, and recom- 
mended calmness and prudence. A similar demonstration occurred 
on May 28th, when a crowd, estimated at from 5,000 to 10,000 per- 
sons, filled the square before the palace and demanded from the king 
strong and warlike measures. The crowd, however, soon dispersed 
when the king told them that he still had the welfare of the nation 
at heart. These popular demonstrations found a response when the 
chamber assembled on May 26th. The ministry under Deligeorgis 
was forced to resign, and several new cabinets were formed success- 
ively, to fall to pieces almost immediately, until finally a coalition 
ministry was organized under Admiral Canaris, one of the revolu- 
tionary heroes of Greece. The appointment of this ministry was 
received with mistrust in Constantinople, so that Savfet Pasha, the 
Turkish Minister of Foreign Afi[airs, thought it advisable to question 
the Greek Ambassador with regard to the intentions of the new cabi- 
net. The Ambassador, denying all hostile intentions, assured the 
Porte that the armaments undertaken by Greece were for defensiv^e 
purposes only. With regard to the fear entertained by the Porte, 
that Greece wonld favor a rising in Thessaly, he declared that his 
Government would under all circumstances act openly, and should it 
decide upon war, it would be an open war. The new ministry never- 
theless actively pushed forward, the completion of the armaments. 
The standing army was filled up to its full complement of 27,000, 
and was stationed in four large fortified camps. At the same lime 



410 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



bodies of volunteers were formed, which contained, besides native 
Greeks, a large number of Greek subjects of Turkey. 

A difficulty arose in the latter part of June which threatened, for 
a time, to bring Greece and Turkey into actual collision. The Greek 
Government, on the 28th of the month, seized a quantity of ammuni- 
tion at Corf a while it was on board an Austro-Hungarian steamer in 
transit to Turkey. The Austrian Government promptly protested 
against the proceeding; the Turkish Government also protested, and 
threatened to send a vessel to Corfu to demand a return of the arms. 
The Greek Government endeavored to explain its action by profess- 
ing that it had been taken to defend the neutrality of the island, but 
was not able to maintain its position. The trouble was finally ad- 
justed by shipping the ammunition on board a neutral vessel to 
Trieste, to be detained there till the end of the war. In the begin- 
ning of July a proclamation of the Central Revolutionary Committee 
of Athens was circulated in Epirus and Thessaly, calling upon the 
Greeks to rise for independence, and assuring them of the help of 
80,000 warriors " from Greece itself. The fruits of this appeal ap- 
peared later in the war when the provinces in which it was circulated 
actually revolted, and induced the kingdom of Greece to a step which 
came near involving it in serious embarrassments. On the 12th of 
September, the Greek Government, having been called upon by 
Earl Derby, at the request of the Porte, to give a pledge that it 
would not make war against Turkey, replied that it would not re- 
nounce its privileges as an independent State by making such a 
pledge, and that the condition and danger of Hellenism in Turkey 
rendered it now more than ever necessary that the nation should 
have that liberty of action which was essential to independence. 

The hostile attitude of Greece caused Server Pasha, the Turkish 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, to send a note, in the beginning of Octo- 
ber, to the Turkish Ambassador in London. This note was submit- 
ted to Lord Derby, who acquainted the Greek Government with its 
contents, adding that Greece would do better to turn her attention to 
her internal development, and to the removal of the financial difii- 
culties under which she was laboring. The Turkish note formulated 
five complaints. First, that the warlike preparations made for some 
months past by the Greek Government, and the dispatch of numer- 
ous detachments of troops to the camps along the frontier, are cal- 
culated to disturb the friendly relations between Turkey and Greece. 
Secondly, the enlistment of numerous Greek volunteers in Turkey, 



DIPLOMATIC HISTORY OF THE WAR, 



411 



openly carried on bj agents, adds to the difficulties of the Imperial 
Government. Thirdly, ever since the beginning of the present vrar, 
the Greek press, which claims to represent the views of the Govern- 
ment, has preached a crusade against Turkey, which was not only 
tolerated, but apparently inspired by the Greek Government. Fourth, 
revolutionary committees existing for years in Greece, have now 
organized agencies in the Turkish provinces. These committees 
show the greatest activity in the frontier districts, and are plainly 
patronized by the Greek Government. Fifth, the revolutionary agi- 
tation of the committees not seeming sufficient, armed bands are 
organized in Greece and thrown into Epirus and Thessaly, without 
in the least being prevented by the Hellenic authorities. In answer 
to this note, M. Tricoupi sent a note to the Greek Charge d' Affaires 
in London, contesting the accuracy of these statements and making 
Turkey alone responsible for all. " If Turkey," the note said, has 
any cause of complaint, she ought not to address herself to England, 
but directly to Greece." 

The popular excitement in favor of war continued to increase as 
the progress of the Russian arms became more decided, but the Gov- 
ernment maintained a practical neutrality till, almost simultaneously 
with the conclusion of the armistice, it was induced to send its troops 
across the border, only to repent of its action immediately, and re- 
trace its ill-considered step at the earliest possible moment. 

During the month of July, the Russians closed the Sulina mouth 
of the Danube by sinking vessels and then throwing rocks and sand 
on them, thus making the Snlina channel impassable for large vessels. 
This course produced considerable dissatisfaction, particularly in 
England. This caused Prince Gortchakoff to issue a special note 
early in August, in which he promised that all obstructions placed in 
the river would be removed at the close of the war. With regard 
to the British complaints, he said that after the Czar had promised 
not to attack Egypt, he might have assumed that the British Gov- 
ernment would do their utmost to prevent the Khedive from partici- 
pating in the war. In the recent fighting in the Balkans, however, 
the Russians had found themselves opposed to Egyptian troops. If 
England, therefore, did not desire to see its Egyptian interests im- 
perilled, it should use its influence with the Khedive to restrain him 
from steps which Russia might be forced to resent. 

The murder of the French and German Consuls at Salonica, in 
1876, led to a joint action of the French and German Governments 



412 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



in September, 1877. Strange to saj, the men concerned in the 
assassination of the Consuls, who, upon the representations of the 
two powers, had been sentenced to imprisonment, were suddenly re- 
leased after having served a little over half a year. This led to 
notes of remonstrance from the two powers as stated. But before 
these notes w^ere delivered, the Porte had sent orders to Salonica 
that the men should be put back into prison. Their release furnished 
a curious specimen of the fashion in which a Turkish official occa- 
sionally understands his duty. The prisoners, who had been kept at 
Widin, had to be removed, and at the time of the bombardment, 
were taken back to Salonica, where the Governor, on the plea that 
he had not been told what he was to do with them, first set them 
free, and then telegraphed for instructions. It perhaps never 
occurred to him that it might be as well to telegraph to his Govern- 
ment before taking steps which would scarcely be very palatable to 
Germany and France, and was certainly not consistent with the 
usual course of justice. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 



INNER HISTORY OF TURKEY DURING THE WAR. 

The Feeling at Constantinople at the Beginning of the War— Discontent over the Man- 
agement of Aflfairs by the Government— The Holj- War and the Flag of the Prophet 
—The Turkish Parliament— Ministerial Changes— The Sultan still talking of Reforms 
—Rise and Growth of the Party of Peace— The Second, Session of Parliament— The 
Government Censured— Boldness and. Independence of the Deputies— The Sultan 
Dissolves the Chamber with Signs of Displeasure — Further Ministerial Changes- 
How the Porte Supported the War. 

It was clear from the very beginning of the war that the Porte 
would have to make use of all its resources in order to carry it on 
successfully. The opinion which had gained some currency abroad, 
that the Christians at the capital would either favor the Russian 
attack, or would affect neutrality, or at most give the Government 
only a half-hearted support, were not confirmed ; and the declara- 
tion of war produced an apparent unity of sentiment among all 
classes of the population of Constantinople, of whatever religion, in 
favor of maintaining the integrity of the Empire to the last. In the 
Chamber of Deputies, several Christian members protested against 
the pretext put forward by Russia, that it had declared war for the 
protection of the Christian population of the Empire, and are said to 
have averred that they did not desire the protection of Russia, and 
that the Christian subjects of the Sultan were ready to take part in 
the defense of the country. The Greek Patriarch provided a form 
of prayer to be used in the churches for the Sultan and for the suc- 
cess of his Majesty's arms in the war; and the Armenian Patriarchs 
gave his Majesty assurances of their sympathy and the support of 
their people. A decree was issued in May making the Christian 
population liable to the conscription equally with others who had 
been long held to service in the army, and was received by the 
Christians without any signs of dissatisfaction. The duty and 
privilege of serving in the army were extended not only to the 
Christians. The non-Mussulman youth of the capital, who had from 
ancient times enjoyed exemption from military duty, were also 
brought under liability, and other measures were adopted showing 

(413) 



414 



THE WAR IX THE EAST. 



a design to render the \vliole manhood of the country available, if 
necessarv. for its defense. A measure was sanctioned for the issue 
of a forced loan of five million Turkish pounds, and an effort was 
made to raise an additional loan in England. 

It was foreseen in the Cabinet of the Sultan that the war might 
probably result in a conflict that would involve the very existence of 
the Empire and of Mussulman mle, and that it was, therefore, 
important to appeal to the piety of the believers, and to excite their 
devotion, by impressing them that their faith was at stake, and by 
surrounding the cause with all the prestige it could command : vet it 
would not be well to arouse their religious zeal to too great an extent 
lest conflicts be produced between the Mussulman and the Christian 
population, and embarrassments engendered with the other Christian 
powers. 

On the 25th of April, or the day after the declaration of war, the 
Sultan add]'essed the Tm-kish army, saying : The fatherland is in 
danger. It is my duty to take in my hand the banner of the Caliph- 
ate and go into the midst of my soldiers — to sacrifice, if necessary, 
my life for the independence of the Empire and the honor and life 
of our women and children." 

The important question was submitted to the Sheik-ul-Ishim, the 
Mohammedan high-priest, whose decisions on Mohammedan law are 
final, whether a Holy war should be declared. A Jehad, or Holy 
war, is a momentous aflair for a Mussulman, and involves the 
gravest duties. It is declared against a nation which is an enemy of 
Islam, and sometimes against a prince who issues a decree directly 
contradictino^ the statutes of the Koran. It mav be declared if the 
smallest precept of the Koran is in danger. AVlien it is declared, it 
becomes a religious point of honor with the Mohammedan to ap- 
prove himself as an Islamite, with arms in his hand ; the Prince 
must place himself at the head of the faithful and lead them ; all 
the faithful who are over thirteen years of age must take the sword 
and go to battle, while those who are not able to go must perform the 
work for their brethren in the field, and support them ; and the 
leader of the fighting faithful may appropriate all the property of 
the nation, even that belonging to the mosques, to the prosecution 
of the war. As a reward for their participation, the faithful who 
engage in the Holy war, may take and keep whatever valuables 
they may find in the land of the enemy, and those among them 
who fall in battle are promised an immediate entrance into Paradise 



HISTORY OF TURKEY DURING THE WAR. 415 

as Jehid, or martyrs. If tliey return victorious, they bear the title 
of Ghazi, or victors, while their sons may call themselves Ghazi 
Zade, or the sons of the victors, and they have a right to demand a 
pension from the State. According to the original idea, the Jehad, 
when once declared, must not cease till the enemy is wholly over- 
thrown, or, if he is an nnbeliever, is converted to Islam, although 
a brief armistice was tolerated. The numerous treaties which Tur- 
key has been obliged to make with Christian States have, however, 
made this regulation a dead letter. The question concerning the 
Holy war was submitted, and the answer was returned in the follow- 
ing form : 

" Question : If, after the Commander of the Faithful — whose 
Cahphate may God prolong to the day of the judgment — has conclud- 
ed a solemn treaty with the ruler of an unbelieving country, the Sover- 
eign of such country makes unendurable and unacceptable demands 
which lessen the glory of Islam and degrade the Mohammedan 
nation, and, in order to impose these demands upon Mussulmans, in- 
sultingly makes preparations for war, transgresses the boundaries of 
Mohammedan States and devastates the same, and thus breaks the 
solemn treaty : in such a case, as soon as it is plain that the Mussul- 
mans possess the necessary strength and resources for the contest, 
and that the contest on behaK of the Faith is meritorious, is it the 
duty of the Protector of the Faith, the Sultan of the Mussulmans — 
to whom may the Almighty God grant victory — to send the con- 
quering troops of Islam against that country, and, in confidence in 
God the Supreme Euler, to undertake the War of Faith for the 
glory of Islam against the said country and people ? It is an answer 
that is sought. 

" Answer : Yes, God knows that it is so. 

" Thus writes the poor Hassan Kairullah, unto whom may God 
be merciful ! " 

Assm-ances were published that the declaration of the Holy war 
was not aimed against the Christian subjects of the Porte, but only 
against the common enemy of all Turks, the Eussians. In the lat- 
ter part of July, the powers having made remonstrances against the 
adoption of measures likely to excite the Mussulmans against the 
Christians, a charge by the Sheik-ul-Islam was read in the mosques 
recommending calmness and resigTiation, and the avoidance of all acts 
of hostility toward Christians. At about the same time that the ques- 
tion concerning the Holy war was submitted to him, the Sheik-ul- 



4i6 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Islam was asked whether the Sultan could at that stage of the war 
assume the title of Ghazi, or conqueror. He replied that it would 
be better to wait till the war was closed, and the unbelievers were 
fully vanquished. A state of siege was proclaimed shortly afterward. 

The question of raising the banner of the Caliphate was again 
raised in July, and the fact brought out a remonstrance from the 
powers against the adoption of measures which would further in- 
flame the fanaticism of the Mussulmans, and increase the danger of 
the powers having to interfere to prevent an indiscriminate war 
upon Christians. This banner, the flag of the Prophet, is one of 
the most sacred objects to the Moslem, and the unfurling of it is the 
most solemn and the final act of instituting the Holy war. It is also 
called " the Heavenly Standard," and in the Turkish language 
Bairak. Its color is green, and it is believed to have been the ban- 
ner of the Prophet Mohammed, delivered to him by the angel 
Gabriel, through the medium of Ayesha, as an indubitaole token of 
victory over their enemies. It was formerly laid up in the Treasury 
of the Sultan of Constantinople, but is now kept in the mosque 
at Eycob, where the new Sultans on the day of their coronation gird 
on the sabre of the Caliphate. In case of any serious struggle, a relig- 
ious duty compels the Sultan to give orders to the MoUahs," or 
Mohammedan clergy, to display the Prophet's standard before the 
people and army, and proclaim " Al-Jehad," or the Holy war, by 
exhorting the Moslems to be faithful to their religion and defend 
their kingdom. " This is the Prophet's banner," the Sheik-ul-Islam 
exclaims ; " this is the standard of the Caliphate ; it is set up before 
you and displayed over your heads, oh, true believers, to announce 
to you that your religion is threatened, your Caliphate in danger, 
and your life, wives, children, and property exposed to be the prey 
of your cruel enemies ! Any Moslem, therefore, who refuses to take 
his arms and follow this holy Bairak is an infldel, and must, there- 
fore, suffer condemnation." 

It has always been held in extreme respect, and the unfurling of 
it has been eflicient to settle all questions as t the duty of obe- 
dience, except in one instance, happening in 1658, when an insur- 
rectionary chieftain turned his back to it, and continued his resist- 
ance. It has been shown many times that the so-called flag of the 
Prophet was not the genuine flag used by Mohammed, which was 
black, but without disturbing the faith of the Mussulmans in its 
sanctity. The most generally accepted account of the origin of this 



HISTORY OF TURKEY DURING THE WAR. 417 

particular flag is tliat when the Prophet was dying, Ayesha, his fa- 
vorite wife, tore down the green purdah from the door of the death 
chamber, and, giving it to the assembled chiefs, bade them make it 
the flag of future victory. The Moslems, therefore, call this green 
banner " Bairak-un-nabi," as being used as the standard of the king- 
dom and the religion of Mohammed. 

Discontent arose early in Parliament and among the people over 
the inefficiency of the proceedings of the Governmeot, which reached 
a culmination after the capture of Ardahan, in Armenia. It was 
generally understood that the Sultan, as is nearly always the case at 
the Turkish court, was governed hj a small faction of adherents 
who were styled the Palace clique, and who looked upon all meas- 
ures that were proposed more with an eye to their personal designs 
and their advancement, than to the good of the country. The 
Chambers were -brought into frequent conflict with Red if Pasha, 
the Minister of War, and Mahmoud Damad, the Sultan's brother-in- 
iaw, who was considered the real controller of the councils of the 
Government. Even before actual hostilities began, the tardiness 
of the Serdar Ekrem in going to the seat of war, became the sub- 
ject of remark and comment in the Assembly, and opportunities for 
animadversion arose often enough afterward, and were not lost. 
Complaints from the army reaching the members of the Assembly, 
gave them excuses for exposing mismanagement and incapacity, 
and the system of favoritism and nepotism which continued to flour- 
ish. The Chambers were visited on the 25th of May by a deputa- 
tion of Softas, or theological students in the mosques, making de- 
mands for changes in the administration and the methods of carry- 
ing on the Government. The opportunity was embraced by some of 
the deputies to make direct attacks upon the Seraskier, Pedif Pasha, 
as Minister of War, and to speak plainly of the incapacity of the 
Cabinet, asking that men of well-known and approved capacity 
should be elevated to power. These demonstrations and expressions 
were understood at the time to be made in contemplation of the 
recall of Midhat Pasha, and it was believed that this minister was 
actually about to be reinstated in his former position. If the Sultan 
ever had such an intention, it was defeated by the machinations of 
Midhat' s enemies, who had the ear of his Majesty through Mah- 
moud Damad, and retained their influence over him throughout the 
war. A few days after the visit of the Softas to the Chambers, the 
Government announced the discovery of a conspiracy which aimed at 



4i8 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



the deposition of the Sultan and the removal of the whole reigning 
dynasty. Several of the Softas who had pai-ticipated in the demon- 
stration were arrested, and five of them were banished. At the 
beginning of J uly, Redif Pasha was ordered to join the Commander- 
in-chief at Shiimkj ostensibly to inquire into the causes of the inac- 
tivity of the army, but really, it was currently thought, to get him 
away from the capital. At about the same time the ministers were 
ordered to sleep in Stamboul, so as to be able to meet together in 
council, should an emergency arise. 

The Parliament, having fulfilled its constitutional duty of being 
in session for three months, was adjourned, by order of the Sultan, 
on the 28th of June. It had not accomplished much, although it 
had perhaps done all that could have been expected of a body so 
novel to the country and to its theory of government, but it had 
shown vigor and activity in discussion, and a public spirit and bold- 
ness in the expression of opinions, that were decidedly creditable to it 
as a body and to its members. A correspondent of the JSTew York 
Tribune^ writing from its sessions, thus describes its distinctive 
traits : 

" The Assembly is doing much more in the way of independent 
discussion than was expected, but the division between Moslems and 
Christians is probably going to prevent any serious advantage aris- 
ing from the institution of Parliament. ^Nevertheless, it is pleasant 
to find men who can stand up in the Assembly and tell the Govern- 
ment that its law of the press may more fitly be entitled a penal 
code, and who can rally about them a majority sufficient to vote 
down the obnoxious clauses of the law, one after the other. It is 
pleasant, also, in this country, where so long a silence has been en- 
forced, to see a man get up and face the Finance Minister in the 
Assembly, and charge home upon his employes corruption, and 
carry the whole Assembly with him in the charge ; or to see an- 
other man oppose the greed and selfishness of the Pashas, who call 
upon the people to support the treasury in this war crisis, and give 
nothing from their own luxury." 

The correspondent likened the appearance of the Assembly to 
that of a school-room, with straight rows of desks and benches, 

exactly modeled after the American school desks of fitleen years 
ago," running across the room, while the members were so like 
school boys under the rule of the teacher, who sat upon the platforai 
in the front, that there seemed nothing incongruous in the arrange- 



HISTORY OF TURKEY DURING THE WAR. 419 

ment. The President exercised liis functions with decision and 
tenacity, so that it required great nerve to insist on the yeas and 
nays after he had said that a measure had been adopted by the 
House. " And even after a hard-fought battle and victory, the 
President is sure to bring up the defeated bill again, with the re- 
mark that the Ministry have made explanations in committee, and 
the committee has now a report to make, the result being that the 
bill is reported upon favorably by the committee and adopted with- 
out a ballot, before any slow-moving intellect has risen to the height 
of calling for the yeas and nays again," 

The excitement and dissatisfaction at Constantinople were still 
further increased after the passage of the Balkans by Gen. Gourko, 
and both the Commander-in-chief and the Ministry fell victims to 
the general discontent. Savfet Pasha was replaced as Minister of 
Foreign Affairs by Aarifi Pasha, and Mahmoud Damad became 
Minister of War, in place of Redif Pasha. The same "Palace 
clique" remained in power, but with a new face turned toward the 
public. The newspapers called attention to the fact that the enemy 
were at the gates of Constantinople, and urged the inhabitants to 
constitute volunteer battalions ; and the works on the fortifications 
were carried on with great activity. Ten days later, Aarifi Pasha 
retired from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and was succeeded by 
Server Pasha. The recall of Midhat Pasha was still talked of, but 
Mahmoud Damad, who ruled the Court, would not permit his rival 
to return. 

Early in August, the Porte conveyed an intimation to the 
powers, through a confidential interview between the President of 
the Council of State with Count Zichy, the Austrian Ambassador, 
that " the Ottoman Government, in spite of late successes in arms, 
was firmly convinced that the war was really a misfortune for the 
whole world, that it would lead to no real result on either side, and 
that the Sultan would be happy to see it end in a peace honorable 
to both belligerents. If Russia only demanded autonomy for Bul- 
garia under several Christian governors, the Porte would agree to 
make peace." A very guarded intimation had been made shortly 
before by the Russian journal Golos, that Russia was ready to enter 
into negotiations for peace, and that the terms of Russia would not 
be found oppressive ; yet no steps seem to have been made to bring 
the parties together, and the war was allowed to go on. During 
August, a new loan for £5,000,000 nominal was put upon the mar- 



• 



420 THE WAR IN THE EAST. 

ketj tlie Tnobilization of the landsturm in Rumelia and Anatolia 
was ordered, for which all the population should be enrolled, with 
the intention of forming a camp of 70,000 men for the defense of 
the capital, and a new forced loan was commanded. ^sTear the close 
of the month, Mahmoud Damad was removed from the office of 
Minister of War, because he was supposed to be responsible, by 
having ordered the movement which led to it, for the reckless sacri- 
fice of life in the attempt of Suleiman Pasha to recover the Shipka 
Pass. He was succeeded by Mustapha Pasha, and Savfet Pasha 
was appointed Minister of Justice in place of Hassim Pasha, who 
was nominated President of the Senate. 

On the 5 th of October, the Sultan, on the occasion of his cere- 
monial visit to the mosque, reviewed a body of the local militia, 
and made an address to them, in which he expressed the hope that 
after the conclusion of a glorious peace they wonld show the same 
aptitude and zeal that they had exhibited in devotion to the defense 
of the country, in assisting him "to carry through the reforms on 
which the prosperity of the country and the welfare of the people 
depend." This was favorably received, as an assurance that the 
Sultan had still at heart the reforms in which he had embarked 
when he was interrupted by the war. A few days afterward, the 
Sultan received two members of the British Parliament, when he 
expressed himself extremely desirous of carrying out the reforms 
and improvements he had begun, but regretted that he had preju- 
dices of long standing to deal with, and that it was impossible, 
without danger, to proceed otherwise than gradually ; but he was 
fully resolved to form a basis for further reforms. He was specially 
anxious for such measures as would insure the equality of all his 
subjects. The Parliament would, of course, require time to develop 
itself, and to show real, practical results; but, nevertheless, he felt 
quite sure that the freedom of discussion permitted to the members, 
and the publication of their speeches and of the measures they 
passed, would gradually accustom the people to take a more active 
interest than now in the affairs of the Empire. He hoped that, 
eventually, the laws would be firmly administered, and the promised 
reforms resolutely carried out. 

Reports of the existence of a peace party at Constantinople, 
strong enough to attract attention, and of the existence of political 
conspiracy, seeking the restoration of Murad as Sultan, were fol- 
lowed in [N'ovember by notices of the meeting of ]\Iinisterial Coun- 



HISTORY OF TURKEY DURING THE WAR. 



421 



cils, at which the determination to continue the war seemed as 
strong as ever. After the fall of Kars, Mahmoud Daniad, who was 
supposed to be in sympathy with the movement for peace, was 
removed from the direction of military affairs, the war council was 
abolished, full powers were conferred on the Seraskier, Musta]>ha 
Pasha, and a new resolution seemed to have been taken to carry on 
the war with energy. Two weeks later, Mustapha was removed, 
and Kauf Pasha was appointed Minister of Wai- in his place. This 
was considered to indicate a restoration of the ascendency of Mah- 
moud Dam ad. The ascendency of the pacific policy in the councils 
of the Government seemed clear enough about the middle of Decem- 
ber, when the Turkish Government addressed a circular to the 
powers, suggesting mediation ; but a week later, when the Sultan 
reviewed a lai-ge force of infantry about to proceed to the seat of 
war, the war party appeared to be predominant. These vacillations 
were very natural in the desperate condition of affairs which existed 
at the time, when to yield, after the terrible succession of defeats 
which the Turkish armies had suffered, seemed to involve the sur- 
render of the larger part of the Empire in Europe, a part of that in 
Asia, and all of Ottoman pride. Yet, without armies, without 
money, without friends, almost without fortified positions, and with 
the Kussians pressing all around, what was to be done? All doubts 
were finally set at rest on the 8th of January, when the Sultan, the 
Ministerial Council, and the Parliament united in asking for an 
armistice. 

The Parliament met in its second session, December 13th. In 
the speech from the throne, the Sultan, after referring to the events 
of the year, and the extension of the liability to military service to 
the Christians, spoke of tlie new Constitution, and the reforms 
which he had undertaken, in regard to which he said : " The salva- 
tion of the Empire depends entirely upon the complete and sincere 
carrying out of the Constitution. Our greatest wish has been to see 
all classes of our subjects enjoy the benefits of a complete equality 
and our country profit by the progress of modern civilization ; the 
reform introduced into the finances, the fulfillment of all our engage- 
ments, the distribution, in accordance with the principles of politi- 
cal economy, of the taxes and dues ; the collection of the revenue 
in such a manner as not to injure the interests of the population ; 
the revision of our judicial system in conformity with the require- 
ments of the time, in order to insure the impartial administration of 



422 



THE WAR IN THE EAST 



justice by oiir tribunals ; the reform respecting the property of the 
Yakufs with a view to facilitate the acquisition of landed property ; 
the formation of communes, and the specification of their powers 
as an essential basis for the administrative fabric ; and lastly, the re- 
organization of the Gendarmerie. But the war has postponed the 
fulfillment of these wishes. Furthermore, the calamities of the war 
have exceeded all limits ; a numerous population, non-combatant and 
inoffensive women and children, whose life and honor ought accord- 
ing to the usages of war to have been respected, have been sub- 
jected to cruel treatment, revolting to humanity. I am pleased to 
hope that in the future nothing will prevent the truth in that respect 
from coming to light. We believe that we have given you a mani- 
fest proof of our finn intention to persist in the path of progTess, 
by directing our attention to internal refoiTQS, even at a time w^hen 
the Government is engaged in a great war. It is by means of 
complete liberty of discussion that one can arrive at the truth in 
legislative and political questions, and thus protect the public inter- 
est. The Constitution renders this a duty on your part, and I do 
not think I have to give you any other order or encouragement in 
this respect." 

The members of the Chamber in discussing the address spoke very 
plainly about the inefficiency which had been shown by the officers 
charged with the conduct of the war ; and the house decided on the 
2d of January, by a vote of fifty to thirty, to retain, in the reply to 
the address of the throne, a passage averring that the Goverament 
had not done its duty. A considerable advance in the independence 
and apparent capacity of the deputies was observed at the present 
session. A division of parties began to appear; the opposition 
were remarkably bold in their denunciations of the faction in powen 
some of them riot sparing the Sultan himself. It was a subject of 
especial remark that among those who had rendered themselves con- 
spicuous were men from the provinces — from Smj^iia, Janina, Alep- 
po, Syria, Anatolia, and Adrianople — and not from the capital ; 

and yet they displayed an amount of political insight which could 
scarcely have been expected of them." At a later stage in the pro- 
ceedings the ministers were called personally into the Chamber and 
made to give an account of their administration in answer to search- 
ing questions. 

These proceedings were very unacceptable to the ruling faction in 
the Turkish cabinet, which used every exertion to induce the Sultan 



HISTORY OF TURKEY DURING THE WAR. 



to get rid of the too free-spoken deputies. The Sultan accordingly 
ordered the dissolution of the Parliament on the 20th of February, 
and directed that certain of the deputies who had played a promi- 
nent part in exposing the abuses of the administration should be 
sent back to their homes. 

An important change in the Ottoman Government took place 
about the 5th of Febraary, when the office of Grand Vizier was 
abolished, and a new Ministry was organized under European forms 
and designations, the constitution of which was as follows : 

" Ahmed Yefik Etfendi, President of the Council of Ministers 
and Minister of the Interior ; Server Pasha, Minister of Foreign Af- 
fairs ; Eauf Pasha, Minister of War ; Said Pasha, Minister of 
Marine; Kiani Pasha, Minister of Finance; Namyk Pasha, Grand 
Master of the Artillery : Ohannes Tchamith Effendi, Minister of 
Public Works and Commerce ; and Savfet Pasha, President of the 
Council of State." 

This measure was understood to indicate a further step in carry- 
ing out the reforms which had been promised. 

The question was often suggested during the war, how Turkey, 
confessedly bankrupt at the beginning of the operations, could find 
means for carrying them on so long and so well. Notwithstanding 
the total destitution of money, the armies were kept in good condi- 
tion and tolerably well supplied until a part of the force w^as disabled 
by the severities of winter and the rest was destroyed by capture. 
The explanation is found in the fact that the Turkish army and 
officers had learned to do without money. Official salaries were 
seldom paid till from five to fifteen months after they were due ; they 
were liable to charges amounting to about twenty-five per cent, of 
their nominal value, and were further reduced fifty per cent, on the 
12th of July. Thus the Government was not, in fact, paying salaries 
to its officers, and the army was expected to live off the country, 
without need for money. As the Government Avas not pretending 
to pay its foreign debt, and the army was taking care of itself, all 
of its actual income was available for the purchase of such supplies, 
as it needed from abroad, which had to be paid for in cash. This, 
method of management would answer so long as the weather was; 
pleasant, but the need of the aiTtiy for a better method of provision^ 
became imperative when winter closed, and the pressure of necessity 
became one of the forces to compel a surrender. 



CHAPTEE XIY. 



ARMISTICE AND PEACE. 

Early Measures relating to Peace — What Russia would have Demanded in June, 1877 — 
German Prognostications — Growth of the Peace Party in Turkey — The Porte issues a 
Circular Appeal to the Powers for Mediation — The Powers Decline to Interfere, but 
England brings about a direct Negotiation between the Belligerents — Turkish Com- 
missioners appointed, with full powers to Treat — The Armistice and the Conditions 
of Peace— The Treaty Signed and Ratified— Its Conditions. 

The war had hardly begun before speculations were set afloat in 
both official and unofficial circles concerning the terms upon which 
peace might be made. Rumors were in cii'culation in the Russian 
army, in Berlin, and in Yienna, in the latter part of May, relative 
to the possibility of a peace being negotiated even before the Rus- 
sians should cross the Danube. The existence of a peace party at 
Constantinople was assumed even at that early date, and the Grand 
Yizier, Edhem Pasha, was mentioned as a functionary who main- 
tained intimate relations with the Court of Berlin, and through 
whom overtures of mediation might be made by Germany. It was 
suggested that the fall of Ardahan and the retreat of the Turks on 
Erzerum, together with the impression made upon the Sultan by 
the menacing attitude of the Chambers and the population of the 
capital, had already furnished an opportunity for German mediation ; 
and it was intimated that the Sultan would not be unwilling to 
listen to overtures for a settlement, as affording means by which he 
could escape from the embarrassing situation in which he was placed 
at that time. The semi-official Journal de St. Petersburg dismissed 
these rumors by saying that diplomacy had better not pronounce in 
favor of any definite plan for the termination of the war until 
decisive events had occurred on the battle-field. The terms of peace, 
it said, must depend upon the course of the war. 

Russian diplomacy in private, however, was doing at almost that 
very time what its organ before the public advised should not be 
done ; for before the sheet which contained these words had had 
(424) 



ARMISTICE AND PEACE, 



425 



time to become an old newspaper, Count Shuvaloff, Russian Ambas- 
sador to England, held a confidential interview with Earl Derby in 
London on the 8th of June, at which he explained to him the terms 
which Russia would exact under different conditions of success of 
its arms, and among them included almost the identical terms which 
it did exact after its complete success in January, 1878. Egypt and 
the Suez Canal would be left alone, as Prince Gortchakoff had 
promised ; Constantinople would not be occupied permanently ; a 
new settlement of the regulations for the Straits would be demanded 
of the powers ; it was not for the interest of Russia to trouble En- 
gland in its Indian possessions, or, consequently, in its communica- 
tions with them. If the Porte should sue for peace before the Rus- 
sian armies crossed the Balkans, the Emperor would agree not to 
pass that line. In this case the terms of peace would be the 
autonomy of Bulgaria as a vassal province under the guarantee of 
Europe, the Turkish troops and officials to be removed from it, the 
fortresses to be disarmed and razed, and self-government to be estab- 
lished within it, with a national militia ; the powers to agree to 
assure to that part of Bulgaria which is to the south of the Balkans, 
as well as to the other Christian provinces of Turkey, the best pos- 
sible guarantees for a regular administration. Montenegro and. 
Servia should receive an increase of territory, to be determined upon 
by common agreement, and Bosnia and Herzegovina sh6uld be 
provided with such institutions as should be judged compatible 
with their internal state and calculated to guarantee them a good 
indigenous administration. 

It was admitted to be right to give Austria-Hungary a preponder- 
ating voice in the future organization of these provinces. Russia 
would, however, reserve the right of stipulating for certain special 
advantages as compensation for the costs of war, which would not 
exceed the restoration of the portion of Bessarabia ceded in 1856 
and the cession of Batum, with adjacent territory. In this case, 
Rumania could be compensated by the proclamation of its independ- 
ence, or by the annexation of a portion of the Dobrudja, and 
Austria-Hungary would not be opposed in seeking its own security 
and compensation for the extension of Russia by adding to its do- 
minions territory in Bosnia and partly in Herzegovina. If the Turkish 
Government should refuse to accept these terms, Russia would be 
obliged to pursue the war until the Porte was compelled to agree to 
peace, and in this case the terms of the Imperial Cabinet might be 



426 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



altered. These views were communicated to the British Govern- 
ment, not to be used to influence the Porte in favor of peace, for 
there was no probability that it would accept them till it had 
learned by experience how weak it was, but that the neutrality of 
England might be insured by giving it some actual evidence of the 
moderation of Russia's demands. A minute of these propositions 
was communicated to Coimt Andrassy and Prince Bismarck, as 
representatives of the Austrian and German Governments. At a 
subsequent interview, the Russian Ambassador informed Earl Derby 
that his Government had decided that the separation of Bulgaria 
into two provinces would be impracticable, for local infonnation 
proved that Bulgaria must remain a single province, otherwise the 
most laborious and intelligent part of the Bulgarian population, and 
notably that which had most suffered from Turkish maladministra- 
tion, would remain excluded from the autonomous institutions," 
and that the proposed terms of peace would be modified in accord- 
ance with this view. Earl Derby furnished Mr. Layard, the British 
Minister at Constantinople, with a report of Count Shuvaloff's dec- 
larations, leaving it to his discretion whether or not he should com- 
municate the Russian propositions to the Ottoman Government. 
Mr. Layard decided that it would be useless to try to induce the 
Porte to consider such terms ; and the fact that such communica- 
tions had taken place remained a secret in the four Cabinets till 
February, 1878, when the matter was made public in a Biitish Par- 
liamentary document. 

While the conversations of Count Shuvaloff and Earl Derby were 
going on, the Berlin Ministerial Post^ said, June 9th, that the an- 
nounced determination of the Russian Government to annex nothing 
resolved itself into the intention to govern and direct all. Were 
Russia to annex Bulgaria, Austria would lay her hand on Bosnia 
and Servia ; Greece and England would protect their interests by 
similar measures ; Rumania would be accorded a fresh guarantee ; 
while Armenia, if embodied with the Russian Empire, might bring 
on a rupture with Great Britain. To avoid these unpleasant results, 
the Russian Government had resolved to maintain the integrity of 
Turkey, but so to remodel Turkey as to place it under the absolute 
control of the St. Petersburg authorities. The plan was favored 
by the vacillating conduct of the British Cabinet, disposing Turkey 
to settle with Russia, no matter how much the interests of the other 
powers might be injured by the act. 



ARMISTICE AND PEACE. 



427 



The development of a sentiment in favor of peace in Constanti- 
nople began to be noticed a little later. The Sultan and his advisers 
were disheartened by the rapid advance of the Russians toward the 
Balkans, the incapacity of their generals, and the want of men and 
money, and notes were sent to the re]3resentatives of the powers 
calling attention to the danger threatened to Europe by the Russian 
advance. Subsequently the generals reported the military situation 
and prospects improved, and public sentiment became more warlike. 
The intimation of the Sultan to the Austrian Ambassador, at the 
beginning of August, that he was willing to make peace on the basis 
of the Andi-assy note, came at about the same time that the Russian 
papers were representing the readiness of their Government to enter 
into negotiations, but no advantage was taken of a coincidence which 
seemed to afford a rare opportunity to stop the further progress of 
the war. 

The party of peace at Constantinople evidently grew stronger 
dming the fall, and exercised a perceptible influence over the de- 
liberations of the Cabinet long before its intentions were declared ; 
and new weight was added to its force as reverse after reverse fell 
upon the Turkish arms. On the 12th of December, the Porte issued 
a circular appeal to the powers, in which, after referring to the 
origin of the war with a profession that it had not provoked it, but 
had done everything to avoid it, and after reciting the measures of 
reform which it had voluntarily instituted for the whole Empire, it 
said : " If any doubt could still survive as to the religious fulfillment 
of the new Constitution and of the reforms that we have promised 
in the Conference of Constantinople, this doubt should disappear in 
the presence of the formal and solemn declaration of the sincerity 
of our resolutions. We proffer in this regard a guarantee of which 
we invite Europe to take note. The true and only cause of hinderances 
which might slacken our efforts in this path would be found in the 
continuation of a state of war. Such a situation is not only dis- 
astrous with reference to reforms, but equally calamitous in regard 
to the general prosperity of the country." Recalling the fact ■ that 
the desire for conquest had been expressly disavo\. \. J by Russia, the 
circular inquired, with what object, then, should the armies prolong 
desolation and ruin for their respective countries ? and concluded : 
" We, on our part, think that the moment has come when both 
belligerents might accept peace without forfeit to their dignity, and 
when Europe might usefully interpose its good offices. As for the 



428 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Imperial Government, it is ready to ask this, not that the countiy 
has reached the end of its resources. There are no sacrifices which 
the entire Ottoman nation is not willing to face to maintain the in- 
dependence and integrity of the Fatherland. But the duty of the 
Imperial Government is to avert, if possible, any further effusion of 
blood. It is, therefore, in the name of humanity that we make this 
appeal to the sentiments of justice in the Great Powers, and that we 
hope they will be inclined to receive our advances favorably." 

The note was generally regarded by the powers as affording an in- 
sufficient basis for mediation. Germany refused to act upon it. 
Austria could not recognize in it a direct appeal for mediation, but 
regarded it as only an indirect effort to ascertain the dispositions of 
the powers. The British Cabinet, while acknowledging that it 
scarcely afforded the basis of a successful mediation, thought it might 
serve as a starting-point for mediation, and should be confidentially, 
if not officially, communicated to the Russian Government, but 
finally answered that it could not undertake to mediate, the views of 
the other powers on the subject being too divergent. The Italian 
and French Governments did not wish to take the initiative. So the 
appeal was not communicated to the Russian Government. The En- 
glish Cabinet, however, upon the invitation of the Sultan, undertook 
to ask the Russian Government confidentially on what terms it would 
consent to make peace. The Russian Government replied that the 
decisions and acts of the Imperial policy were still guided by the two 
paramount considerations of putting an end to the constantly recur- 
ring disturbances, and avoiding complications by respecting the hi- 
terests of third parties, but that all intervention would be refused. 
If the Turks desired an armistice, they must apply directly to the 
Russian Commander-in-chief, and the terms of peace must be dis- 
cussed between the belligerents alone. 

The English Government advised the Porte to treat with the 
Russians on their own terms. Server Pasha and I^amyk Pasha were 
appointed, January 13th, to go to the Russian headquarters at Kasan- 
lik and negotiate with the Grand Duke ^Nicholas for an armistice, 
and concerning the preliminaries of peace. The plenipotentaries 
reached Kasanlik, and the negotiations were begun on the 20th. On 
the 23d, the Turkish Government telegraphed to the plenipotenti- 
aries giving them its orders and full powers to accept whatever terms 
the Russians offered. So eager did the Government seem to put an 
end to its troubles that it was said that the Grand Yizier could not 



ARMISTICE AND PEACE. 429 

admit that any delay or procrastination in the matter, on the part of 
the Turkish plenipotentiaries, was possible. The progress of the 
negotiations were inexplicably delayed from day to day, although the 
Kussians knew well what they were to demand, and the Turks were 
ready to grant anything that was asked of them, so that it was the 
31st of January before the armistice and the preliminaries of peace 
were signed, and the 8th of February before they were officially 
published. In the meantime, the place of the negotiations was 
changed, by the continued advance of the Eussian armies, to 
Adrianople, the most important place in Turkey after Constanti- 
nople. As communicated by Mr. Layard to the British Govern- 
ment, the armistice contained ten articles. It was concluded 
between Russia, Servia, Rumania, and Turkey, and was given by 
Mr. Layard as follows : 

"1. A notice of three days must be given before a resumption of 
hostilities takes place. The armistice is to be communicated to 
Montenegro by Russia. 

" 2. Restoration of the gnns and territory taken after the signa- 
ture. 

^' 3. Gives the details of line of demarkation and neutral zone for 
Turkey, Russia, and Servia, placing in Russian hands almost all of 
Bulgaria, Rumelia, and Thrace up to the lines of Constantinople and 
Gallipoli. Fortifications are not to be retained on the neutral 
territory, and no new ones are to be raised there. A joint com- 
mission will determine the line of demarkation for Servia and 
Montenegro. The Russians to occupy Burgas and Midia, on the 
Black Sea, in order to obtain supplies, but no war material. 

"4. Armies beyond the line of demarkation to be withdrawn 
within three days of signature of armistice. 

" 5. The Turks may remove arms, etc., to places and by routes 
defined, on evacuating the fortifications mentioned in Article 3. If 
they can not be removed, an inventory of them is to be taken. The 
evacuation is to be complete within seven days after the receipt of 
orders by the commanders. 

6. Sulina is to be evacuated within three days by the Turkish 
troops and ships of war, unless prevented by ice. The Russians 
will remove the obstacles in the Danube, and will superintend the 
navigation of the river. 

7. The railways to continue to work under certain conditions. 
" 8. Turkish autliorities to remain in certain places. 



43^ 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



" 9. Blr.ck Sea blockade to be raised. 

" 10. Wounded Turkish soldiers to remain under the care of 
Russia." 

The armistice commenced at 7 p.m. on the 31st of January. 

The Russian and Turkish commanders on the spot were authorized 
to settle mattery relating to the armistice in Armenia. 

The preliminaries of peace, as published in the Journal of St. 
Petersburg on the 8th of February, were : 

"If the Turks demand peace or an armistice at the outposts, his 
Imperial Highness the Commander-in-chief shall inform them that 
hostilities can not be suspended unless the following bases shall have 
been previously accepted : 

" 1. Bulgaria, within the limits determined by the majority of the 
population of Bulgaria, which Kmits shall in no case be less than 
those indicated by the Constantinople Conference, shall be formed 
into an autonomous tributary principality, with a national Christian 
Government and a native militia. The Ottoman army shall no 
longer remain there, except at (;ertain points to be settled by mutual 
agreement. 

" 2. The independence of Montenegro shall be recognized. An 
increase of territory, equal to that which the fortune of war has 
placed in its hands, shall be secured to it. The definite frontier 
shall be arranged hereafter. 

" 3. The independence of Rumania and Servia shall be recognized. 
An adequate territorial indemnity shall be secured to the first, and 
a rectification of frontier to the second. 

"4. Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be granted an autonomous 
administration, with adequate guarantees. Analogous reforms shall 
be introduced into the other Christian provinces of Turkey in 
Europe. 

" 5. The Porte shall undertake to indemnify Russia for the ex- 
penses of the war and the losses which she has had to bear. The 
nature of this indemnity, whether pecuniary, territorial, or other- 
wise, shall be settled hereafter. His Majesty the Sultan shall come 
to an understanding with his Majesty the Emperor of Russia for the 
protection of the rights and interests of Russia in the Straits of the 
Bosporus and the Dardanelles. 

As proof of the acceptance of these essential bases, Ottoman 
plenipotentiaries shall proceed immediately to Odessa or Sebastopol, 
to negotiate there preliminaries of peace with the Russian plenipo- 



ARMISTICE AND PEACE. 



tentiaries. As soon as the acceptance of these preliminary condi- 
tions shall be officially notified to the Commanders-in-chief of the 
Imperial armies, armistice conditions shall be negotiated at the two 
theaters of war, and hostilities may be piovisionally suspended. 
The two Commanders-in-chief shall have power to complete the 
above conditions by indicating certain strategical points and for- 
tresses as a material guarantee of the acceptance of our armistice 
conditions by the Sublime Porte and of its entTance on the path of 
peace negotiations." 

The conditions, it was explained, had been drawn up before the 
rapid advance of the Russians south of the Balkans. The altered 
position of affairs rendered it unnecessary for the plenipotentiaries 
to go to Odessa or Sebastopol to carry on the negotiations for peace, 
which would now take place at Adrianople. 

The negotiations for the final adjustment of the terms of peace 
proceeded slowly, as they were interrupted by the occurrence of 
differences on many points of detail, in which the Turkish plenipo- 
tentiaries asked concessions of the Russians. Among the questions 
which gave rise to discussion were the extent that should be given 
the new principality of Bulgaria, the amount of the indemnity that 
should be paid by Turkey, some points concerning the surrender of 
Turkish iron-clads to Russia, and the demand for the removal of 
the Mohammedan officers and troops from Bulgaria. A clause 
hypothecating the Egyptian tribute and certain other revenues as 
security for the indemnity to be paid to Russia, was objected to as 
infringing upon the vested rights of foreign creditors. Modifications 
were granted on most of these points. In the meantime, although an 
armistice, existed in name, it was effective to prevent active move- 
ments of the Turks only, for the Russians continued to advance 
steadily, while the Turks offered no resistance, nor apparently any 
protest, till the Russian headquarters were established at San 
Stefano, within ten miles of Constantinople, and, in fact, a suburb of 
the capital, and the negotiations were carried on during the last 
days at that place. The preliminary treaty was finally signed on 
the 2d of March, and the fact was announced to the soldiers at San 
Stefano on the followiujo: day (Sunday). The plenipotentiaries im- 
mediately entered upon the discussion of the details of the several 
points of the treaty which had been agi-eed to en Hoc or as a whole. 
On the Yth of March, Rauf Pasha was appointed to accompany 
Gen. Ignatieff to St. Petersburg to exchange the ratifications of 



432 



THE WAR IN THE EASi, 



the treaty. The ratifications were exchanged ten days afterward, 
j\Iarch 17th, and the treaty itself was published on the 21st of 
March. Its piincipal provisions are as follows :^ 

The opening articles relate to Montenegro, Servia, Rumania, and 
Bulgaria. Montenegro and Servia are declared independent. Mon- 
tenegro is given Antivari, and Servia is given Kissa, the valley of 
the Drina, and Little Zvornik. The questions between Montenegro 
and the Porte are to be settled through Austria and Russia. The 
Mohammedans of Servia are allowed to retain their personal prop- 
erty. A Turkish-Servian Commission shall determine within two 
years questions respecting real estate, and within three years 
those respecting the property of the State and of the Church 
(Yakuf). Rumania is made independent. The question concern- 
ing a war indemnity shall be arranged by a special treaty between 
Rumania and Turkey. Rumanian subjects shall have the same 
rights in Turkey as those of other powers. The final bounda- 
ries of Bulgaria shall be determined by a Russo-Turkish Com- 
mission previous to the evacuation of Rumelia, and shall follow the 
following lines : On the west the Xew and Old Servian frontiers ; 
the boundary line starts from Yranya, crosses the Kara Dagh Moun- 
tain, the Kara Drina River, the Grammos Mountain, passes by Kas- 
toria and around Salonica, and follows the river Karasu as far as 
Yenidje, on the ^gean Sea ; south-west of Kavala the boundary 
runs along the coast to Dedeagatch, thence northward as far as 
Tchirmen. It winds round Adrianople at a distance of two and a 
half hom*s' march, passes through Kirk Kilissa, joins Luleh Burgas, 
and reaches in a straight line to Hekim Tabiassi, on the Euxine. 
It runs along the coast as far as Mangalia, includes Yarna, bears off 
to the west, and terminates at Rassova on the Danube. 

The Prince of Bulgaria shall be chosen by a free vote of the peo- 
ple, confirmed by the Porte, and approved by the powers. No 
member of any dynasty of the Great Powers shall be eligible. The 
JS'ational Assembly shall be convoked at Tirnova or Phihppopolis, 
to consider the future organization of the country, which shall be 
analogous to that of the Danubian principalities as established in 
1830, which shaU be an-anged before the choice of the prince, under 
the superintendence of a Russian, and in the presence of a Tm^kish 
commissioner. The introduction of the new government shall be 
intrusted for two years to a Russian commissioner. After one year, 



* The text of the treaty is given in Appendix 11. 



ARMISTICE AND PEACE. 



433 



the plenipotentiaries of other powers may participate, if it is con- 
sidered necessary. The Turkish army having left Bulgaria, all the 
fortresses shall be razed at the cost of the communities. Till a 
national militia can be formed, Bulgaria shall be occupied for two 
years by the Bnssians, with six divisions of infantry and two divis- 
ions of cavalry, in all 50,000 men, which shall be maintained at the 
cost of the Bulgarians. The amount of tribute to be paid by Bulgaria 
shall be settled by Turkey, Kussia, and the other powers. Bulgaria 
shall assume the obligations of Turkey in reference to the Rustchuk- 
Yarna Railroad Company, after an agreement has been reached be- 
tween the Porte, Bulgaria, and the company. Arrangements con- 
cerning the other railway lines are reserved. 

The Porte shall have the right to construct a road for the trans- 
port of troops and war material to the provinces lying beyond Bul- 
garia. This road will go from Salonica up the valley of the Yardar 
and to Pristina. The regulation of postal and telegraphic connec- 
tions shall be intrusted to a special commission. 

The same provisions are made in respect to the rights of Moham- 
medans possessing property in Bulgaria as are applied to Servia. 

The Danubian fortresses shall be razed ; the building of forts on 
the Danube and its navigation by vessels of war are forbidden. 
Only customs and police vessels are permitted. The privileges of 
the International Danube Commission are continued in force. The 
Porte shall re-establish the navigation of the Sulina mouth, and 
allow indemnification for private losses. 

Reforms shall immediately be introduced into Bosnia and the 
Herzegovina, the same as were demanded at the first sitting of the 
Conference at Constantinople, with the assent of Austria and Rus- 
sia. Arrears of taxes are not to be claimed. The revenue until 
1880 is to be applied to indemnify the sufl^erers by the insurrection, 
and to provide for local needs. 

The application of the ordinance of 1868 is renewed to Crete. 
Similar ordinances shall be made for Epirus, Thessaly, and other 
parts of European Turkey. A special commission shall arrange the 
particulars of this ordinance, which shall be submitted to the ap- 
proval of the Porte, and applied under the supervision of Russia. 

Armenia shall be given reforms according to local needs, and shall 
be protected against the Kurds and Circassians. A complete and 
general amnesty shall be declared. 

The Porte shall take into earnest consideration the views of the 
23 



\ 



434 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



mediatory powers in regard to the possession of the city of Khotur, 
and shall carry out the work of the demarkation of the Turco-Per- 
sian boundaries. 

The indemnity to be paid by Turkey to Russia is fixed at 1,410 
millions of rubles, of which 900 millions shall be charged to the 
costs of the war, 400 millions to the account of damages to trade, 
100 millions to the insurrection in the Caucasus, 10 millions for the 
damages to Kussian subjects and property in Turkey. 

In consideration of the strino;ent financial condition of the Turk- 
ish Empire, and in accordance with the desire of the Sultan, the 
Czar of Russia is satisfied to be oifered in payment, together with 
the sanjak of Tultcha (which may be exchanged for Bessarabia), 
Ardahan, Kars, Bayazid, and the Armenian territor}^ to the Soghanli 
Bagh. 

Turkey undertakes to settle, in a conciliatory spirit, all actions 
between Russian and Turkish subjects, and to execute immediately 
all legal judgments abeady delivered. 

The privileges of the monks of Mount Athos are preserved to 
them. 

The return of the Russian troops from Turkish territory shall be 
completed within three months. A part of the troops shall be em- 
barked at the ports of the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora, and 
at Trebizond. 

The Russians shall administer the Turkish territory till the return 
of their troops. 

The Porte promises not to proceed against Ottoman subjects who 
have had relations with the Russians. 

A discharge of prisoners shall take place after the ratification of 
the treaty. 

Ratifications shall take place within not more than fourteen days. 
The formal conclusion of peace is reserved, but in any case these 
preliminaries shall be binding for Russia and Turkey. 

According to an estimate based upon returns made some time 
before the recent war, which makes the total population of the new 
Bulgaria 3,822,000, the inhabitants of the principality are classified 
as 2,372,000 Bulgarians, 819,000 Turks and Tartars, 220,000 Alba- 
nians, 101,000 Greeks, 65,000 Circassians, and 15,000 Rumanians, 
besides gypsies, Jews, and others. 

The accession of territory to Servia is equal to 4,100 square miles, 



/ 



ARMISTICE AND PEACE. 



435 



with 246,000 inhabitants, of whom 92,000 are Mohammedans. That 
part of the new territory wliich Hes around Mssa is inhabited by 
Bulgarians ; further west Albanians extend up to the frontiers of 
Old Servia ; and many of the inhabitants of the remainder of the 
new territory, though Servians or Bosnians, are Mohammedans 
Servia, as newly constituted, will have an area of 18,590 square 
miles, with 1,598,522 inhabitants, among whom are 150,000 Bulga- 
rians, 160,000 Rumanians, and 92,000 Mohammedans. 

Montenegro is increased by the districts of Gatchko and ^Ticsic 
in the north ; Spuz and Podgoritza in the east ; and a seaboard on 
the Adriatic. These territories have an extent of 1,450 square miles, 
with 45,000 inhabitants, of whom 15,000 are Mohammedans and 
about 10,000 Albanians. The principality will now have 3,150 
square miles, with 241,000 inhabitants. 

The Bobrudja, or the sanjak of Tultcha, which is ceded to Rus- 
sia, to be exchanged for Bessarabia, comprises 4,990 square miles, 
and has 194,000 inhabitants, of whom 109,000 are Mohammedans. 
The part of Bessarabia for which it is proposed to exchange it has 
4,700 square miles and 18,000 inhabitants. 

The whole amount of the cessions made by Turkey is 74,580 
square miles, with 4,306,000 inhabitants, of whom 933,000 are 
Turks and 1,646,000 are Mohammedans. The political divisions of 
what has hitherto been laiown as Turkey in Europe, will, in future, 
be according to this estimate, as follows : 



Area in 
Square miles. 



Population. 



Moham- 
medans. 




46,798 
4,990 

18,590 
3,150 



4,850,000 
194,000 

1,598,522 
^1,000 



109,000 
92,500 
15,000 



Tributary Bulgaria 



64,040 



3,822,000 



1,430,000 



Turkish 




991,000 
1,274,000 
1,693,000 
1,122,000 

275,000 



584,000 
336,000 
1,065,000 
576,000 
40,000 




24,820 
29,950 
3,320 



[ Crete 



158,080 



9,661,000 



4,247,500 • 



Turkey in Europe has been reduced to 83,510 square miles, and 
5,355,000 inhabitants, of whom 2,601,000 are Mohammedans. Of 



43^ 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



the inhabitants, 1,645,000 are Albanians, 1,142,000 are Servians 
(Bosnians and Croats), 1,359,000 are Greeks, but only 834,500 are 
Turks. 

In Asia, Turkey has surrendered about 10,000 square miles, with 
2Y0,000 inhabitants, and there remain to her 714,000 square miles, 
and about 16,000,000 inhabitants, of whom less than 7,000,000 are 
Turks. 



THE HANGING OF CHRISTIANS BY THE TURKS IN THE STREETS 
OF PHILIPPOPOLIS. 




HEADS OF RUSSIAN WOUNDED. 



CHAPTER XY. 



THE ATEOCITIES OF THE WAR, 

The Expectation that Outrages would be Committed— It was not Disappointed— The 
Kurds in Southern Armenia — American Missionaries in Danger — The Massacre at 
Bayazid — No one Punished for it — Charges of Outrages by Russians in Armenia — They 
are not Confirmed — Statements of English Witnesses on the Conduct of the Rus- 
sians—Gen. Melikoff's Statement— Proclamation by Mukhtar Pasha Enforcing Prin- 
ciples of Humanity — Russian Severities in Abkhasia — The Rivalry of Massacres in 
Bulgaria — Attacks on Neutral Property and Hospitals at Widin and Rustchuk — The 
Manufacture of Atrocities — OflBcial Statements by the Turks against Russians and 
Bulgarians — The Mob at Nicopolis — The Bulgarians at Offandiik — Destruction at 
Sistova — Wounded Women and Children at Rasgrad and Shumla — Bulgarian Ex- 
cesses at Eski Sagra — The Turks Recapture the Town and Obliterate it — The Rus- 
sians Exculpated from the Charge of Committing Outrages upon Non-combatants— 
What the Turks Ascribed to the Russians — Testimony of Mr, Archibald Forbes — 
Report of Lieut. -Col. Wellesley — How the Bulgarians Regarded the Case — A few 
Bright Spots in the Picture — Turkish Atrocities far in Excess of Anything which 
the Bulgarians did — Destruction of Yeni Sagra — Trial and Punishment of the Bul- 
garians — Wholesale Executions — Remonstrances of Foreign Governments — Cruelty 
of Turkish Soldiers toward Armed Foes — The Geshofls — Destitution in the Ravaged 
Districts — Movements for Relief — Conduct of the Montenegrins. 

The remembrance of the hideous deeds which were perpetrated by 
the Turkish irregular troops in Bulgaria, in the summer of 1876, 
gave reasonable grounds for the expectation that the far more im- 
portant campaigns of 18Y7 would be distinguished by the enactment 
of similar scenes on a more extended scale, even though the perpe- 
tration of outrages in a more atrocious degree were not possible. 
The conduct of the Turks in the matter of the Bulgarian outrages 
had given no reason to hope that either their Government or their 
officers would exert any serious efforts to repress the cruelties of their 
barbarous adherents. The few executions which the administration 
in Bulgaria had made a show of making of obscure murderers, in- 
spired no confidence in the determination of the Porte to stop bar- 
barous acts by its soldiery, while high officers, who had abetted out- 
rages, escaped arrest. Shevket Pasha, their commander in Bulgaria, 
whose duty it had been to put an end to the outrages while they 

(439) 



! 
I 

i J 440 THE WAR IN THE EAST. 

were in progress, but had made no effort to do so, not only remained 
in favor, but after a brief retirement was again brouglit forward and 
intrusted with responsible commands during the campaign of 1877. 
The truth was, the Turkish Government could not afford to adopt a 
determined course toward its irregulars. It was fighting for exist- 
ence, with a scarcity of means and men, and depended largely upon 
these wild adventurers to keep the ranks of its armies full. Severe 
discipline against them would have involved the danger of alienating 
them from their fidelity, and perhaps have provoked them to de- 
sertion or mutiny. It was not expected, on the other hand, that the 
course of the Russians would be humane, according to the views 
that prevail among the more cultivated nations of the West. The 
Russian Government itself is not humane ; its most liberal measures 
have been characterized in their execution by a severity and disre- 
gard of personal rights, repugnant to modem ideas ; and it has, 
wdthin a few years, carried into effect measures that were intolerant 
in themselves, in a manner that may be characterized as barbarous. 
The peasants, of whom its regular forces are composed, have enjoyed 
no education in the humanities, and its irregular troops are hardly less 
unruly and rash and cruel than the Bashi-Bazouks and Kurds of tlie 
Turks. The world was ready to hear, without surprise, of at least 
extreme carelessness or indifference with regard to the laws of war 
on the part of the Russian soldiers, and the exercise of severity by 
their ofiicers. 

The worst apprehensions were justified in the event. The long 
list of murders, burnings, and devastations committed on both sides 
during the campaign of 1877, finds a parallel— if it does find it — 
only in the accounts of the slaughters and spoliations that accom- 
panied the campaigns of such barbarian "scourges of the human 
race" as Tamerlane and Genghis Khan. The first accounts of 
depredations came from Lower Armenia, in the country around 
Lake Yan. While the Turkish armies were concentrated around 
Erzerum, to resist the advancing armies of Generals Tergukassoff 
and Melikoff, the Kurds flocked up from the south, and did their 
own will in the region. They were organized into bodies of troops 
and placed under the general command of Faik and Ismail Pashas, 
but were not restrained, and soon the district of Bashkalleh, compris- 
ing some twenty Christian villages, was deserted in consequence of 
then- depredations. The inhabitants fled, many of them escaping to 
Persia, where they arrived in a starving condition. The mission- 



THE A TROCITIES OF THE WAR. 



441 



aries of the American Board, which has an important station at Yan, 
were compelled to place their families, for safety, upon an island in 
the lake. One of the missionaries, having received a sunstroke, had 
to be taken to the town for medical aid, and the party who had him 
in charge would have been dispatched incontinently by the Kurds, 
had not the Pasha, a friend of the missionaries, given them the pro- 
tection of a strong guard. The Christian charges of the missionaries 
were subjected to the grossest treatment ; their crops were carried 
away, their cattle killed, their villages burned, their women and even 
their children violated. Ten Christians who fled for safety into the 
church at Utch Kilissa, were murdered. The region of Bitlis, where 
the missionaries have another station, was reduced to anarchy by the 
presence of the Kurds, so that the inhabitants of the city were able to 
remain in their own houses only by keeping armed and demonstrating 
their abihty to defend themselves. After the defeat of the Russians 
at Delibaba, the irregulars swarmed into the Alashgerd district, where 
they are said to have massacred the populations of whole villages, and 
to have compelled three thousand Christian families to seek the pro- 
tection of Gen. Tergukassoff's army, which was afforded them, 
although the Russians themselves were harassed in their retreat by 
the enemy, and were hastening to reach their own territory. 

The culmination of Kurdish atrocities took place at Bayazid, 
w^here, after the engagement of the 19th of June, when nine hun- 
dred Cossack cavalry surrendered and were immediately murdered, 
the Kurds rushed into the town and literally put it to the sword. 
" The scene that ensued," says a correspondent of the London 
Times, who wrote from the Turkish camp near Kars, " was one of 
unparalleled horror. The town contained 165 Christian families, 
and all of the men, women, and children were ruthlessly put to the 
sword. A Turkish oflScer who visited the town a few days subse- 
quently states that there was not a single inhabitant left ; all had 
fled, and, including the Russian prisoners, upwards of 2,400 people 
had been killed. In every house he entered, small groups of dead 
were lying shockingly mutilated, and in the most revolting and in- 
decent positions. Captain M'Calmont, who visited the place shortly 
after the Russian relief, states that it is entirely deserted, and a mere 
heap of ruins ; also, that soldiers were employed for six days in 
burying the dead, the number of whom it was impossible to esti- 
mate. On hearing of this massacre, Mukhtar Pasha at once sent 
down orders to have the Kurds disbanded and disaimed, and their 



442 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



ringleaders shot. Thdy, however, anticipated the first of these in- 
structions bj throwing down their arms and deserting en masse on 
the approach of Tergukassoff's column on the 10th of July." In 
one church 200 bodies were found, and scarcely a house existed in 
which there were not two or more corpses. Faik Pasha, a Lieuten- 
ant-General, at the head of six battalions of soldiers, " never moved 
a file into the town to check these bloodthirsty scoundrels in their 
work of slaughter." 

Sir Arnold Kemball, the British Commissioner at the headquar- 
ters of the Turkish Commander-in-chief, on hearing of the massacre, 
immediately sent Captain M'Calmont as a messenger to Ismail 
Pasha, the commandant of the regular troops in the district of Baya- 
zid, to represent to him the horror which the news of the affair 
would excite in the civilized world, and the injury which would ac- 
crue to Turkey in consequence of the perpetration of such acts, and 
to impress upon him the necessity of adequately punishing the lead- 
ers in the outrage. He made similar representations to Mukhtar 
Pasha, the Turkish Commander-in-chief, who expressed his full con- 
currence in the demand for the punishment of the Bayazid criminals, 
and promised to suspend Faik Pasha, the commander of the Kurds, and 
have him brought before a court-martial for not preventing the outrage. 
Faik Pasha was continued in command, notwithstanding this prom- 
ise. A court-martial was indeed cons ituted later in the season for 
his trial, along with other offending Turkish officers ; bat he was 
arraigned, not for the inhumanities which he had permitted, but for 
inefficiency in not having prevented the relief of Bayazid by Gen. 
Tergukassoff. The Sheik Ulaledin, the reputed instigator of the 
massacre, was in September still in the camp of Kurd Ismail Pasha, 
" an honored guest." It was stated in August that 10,000 Christians 
had escaped into Persian territory. 

The difficulties experienced by the Turkish generals in dealing 
with these offenders of the Irregulars," are illustrated by the result 
of the execution of 'a Circassian by Mukhtar Pasha a few days be- 
fore the Bayazid massacre, for shooting a villager, whose lamb he 
had stolen. The chief of the band to which the criminal belonged 
threatened that if he were hanged, he would retire to his home with 
his whole tribe, and the body of 1,100 men did actually desert on the 
day after the execution. 

The Turks, in their turn, freely charged the Russians with viola- 
tions of the laws of war during their campaign in Armenia. The 



THE ATROCITIES OF THE WAR. 



443 



principal accusations were summed up in a circular wliicli was 
addressed hy the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs to the repre- 
sentatives of the Porte abroad, which recited that the Eussians had 
carried off all the property of the Sheik Evlia Yusuf, near Bajazid, 
and made all his family prisoners ; that they had summoned a party 
of Kurds, including live or six chiefs, to the palace of the Armenian 
bishop near Utch Kilissa, and had there massacred them ; that 
Toprak Kaleh and several villages, in fact all of the villages through 
which the Eussians passed in their retreat, had been destroyed ; that 
a great number of the inhabitants of these localities, Mussulmans and 
Christians, had been maltreated and carried off ; that all the prop- 
erty of twelve tribes had been seized by the enemy ; that two nota- 
bles of tribes in a village of Kara Kilissa and forty old men, with 
women and children, who had taken refuge in the mountains, with 
a number of other inoffensive persons, had fallen into the hands 
of the Eussians, and been put to death one after another; and 
that some Mussulmans of one of the towns who had made their 
submission to the Eussians, had been sent to Siberia, and the re- 
mainder, without distinction of age or sex, had been ruthlessly mas- 
sacred. During the siege of Kars, on the 5th of July, the Turkish 
commandant at Kars sent a messenger under a flag of truce to the 
Eussian lines on some matter connected with hospital duty ; ac- 
cording to one account to claim some dead and wounded on the 
field, according to another to warn the Eussians that they were 
firing into the hospital. The flag was not respected, but the Eus- 
sians directed their fire upon the messenger and killed him. 

The accusations against the Eussian ofiicers, so far as they charge 
the perpetration of outrages in Armenia, were not substantiated. 
Most of them were contradicted by the representatives of the British 
Government and the English press who were attached to the Turk- 
ish army. The cases specified in the Turkish ofiicial statement, 
even if they were correctly described in the report, can not be 
classed in the same category as the massacre at Bayazid, or the 
depredations committed by the . Kurds around Yan and Bitlis, and 
in the plain of Alashgerd. That the Eussians committed any real 
atrocities is specifically and unequivocally denied by Englishmen of 
high station, whose positions guaranteed their general impartiality, 
and whose association with the Turks made it impossible that they 
could be in collusion or sympathy with the Eussians. The single act 
of firing on the flag of truce at Kars was clearly established ; but the 



444 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



fact appears in connection with the evidence in this case, that a few 
days before that event, the Turks had killed a Russian doctor who 
carried the Geneva cross above his head and wore a white badge on 
his arm, and that a Turkish sergeant had gone about Kars boasting 
that " he had killed the Russian doctor by cutting off his head as 
he would that of a sheep." For the rest, an English telegram from 
Kars at the beginning of August stated that the stories were utterly 
untrue ; that the Russians throughout had behaved well ; and that 
the Turkish regulars had also behaved well, but the irregulars, Kurds 
and Circassians had been guilty of atrocities past belief, despite the 
most laudable efforts of Mukhtar Pasha to restrain them. A cor- 
respondent wrote from the headquarters of the Fourth Turkish 
army corps. Camp Kirk Bunar, July 6th : " I have now for the last 
week been following in the wake of the retu-ing Russian army, and 
can see no traces nor hear any reports of any such misdeeds. On 
the contrary, they appear to have behaved with the greatest moder- 
ation, and paid for everything they consumed. It is true that there 
is a great scarcity of grain in the villages through which they passed, 
but this is accounted for by their large force of cavalry requiring 
enormous supphes of this commodity. Fowls, sheep, goats, and 
cattle are as plentiful in the district recently occupied by the Rus- 
sians as in that in rear of the late Tm'kish positions. And while all 
over the Passin plain there were signs of misrule and piratical vio- 
lence, and loud complaints of outrages pei-petrated on the Christian 
populations, outrages of which it is not well to speak, here all is 
peace and plenty." In another letter the same coiTespondent again 
makes special mention of the quantities of live stock and poultry 
throughout the district which the Russians had occupied, and adds : 
The corn is now full in ear, and shows plainly that the Russian 
troops carefully avoided trampling down the crops, while the abun- 
dance of rouble notes, for which the villagers refuse to take less 
than their full value, is sufficient evidence that Loris Melikoff's 
army possesses sufficient discipline to respect the property of harm- 
less villagers, and that liis men pay for all they take. Yery differ- 
ent is the sight when we approach Christian villages. These are 
considered fair fields for pillage by the irregular horsemen of the 
Turkish army, and I regret to say that these disgraceful proceedings 
are not checked in any way by the officers of the army." 

IS^ear the spot where these letters were written was the village of 
Beg Mehmed, where the Russians had infficted the gi'eat surprise 



THE A TROCITIES OF THE WAR. 



44S 



upon four tliousand Circassian cavalry on the 29th of May. A part 
of the Circassians had returned to the village " when the coast was 
clear," and accusing the Christian inhabitants of having given in- 
formation to the enemy, massacred thirty-one men in cold blood. 
When the correspondent with the army passed through the village, 
" the place was completely deserted, doors of granaries burst open, 
the contents spilt over the road," and the soldiers were busy gather- 
ing the grain and straw and whatever they could lay their hands 
upon. 

The British Consul at Erzerum, reported officially to Lord Derby 
that the conduct of the Russian troops toward the inhabitants had 
been humane and just, alike to Mussulmans and Christians. 
Severity, he admitted, had sometimes been employed, but only 
when villagers had provoked it by trying to escape from the villages 
after having been told that by remaining in. their homes and attend- 
ing to their labors they would be protected and cared for. The 
Consul further stated that he had read with surprise the protest en- 
tered by the Porte against the Russians for atrocities committed in 
Asia Minor, and was inclined to believe that the Turks desired to 
publish as atrocities the hanging and shooting, by order of Russian 
commanders, of several Kurds who were executed for committing 
the worst of crimes. 

A correspondent of the London Times, writing from Erzerum 
on the 31st of August, stated that he had been unable to get any 
confirmation of Ismail Pasha's reports of Russian atrocities in the 
Alashgerd plain. Both Mohammedans and Armenians maintained 
that they had been treated with consideration and kindness by Ter- 
gukassoflfs column, and that it was not until after the Russians had 
fallen back from Zeidekan, that they were exposed to the cruelties 
spoken of by Ismail Kurd Pasha, and that these acts were one and 
all committed by Kurds, and not by Russians." 

The Russian side of the case was represented in the following 
language in a statement made by Gen. Melikoff to a correspondent 
early in July : 

" Warfare here is very different from what it is in Europe. 
Among our enemy we have, no doubt, many who are thoroughly 
civilized. But there are also Kurds and Bashi-Bazouks, and, as a 
general rule, we can not trust to the humanity of our foes. Now, 
this has crippled my actions very materially. Had we been at war 
with civilized people, I would have written a letter to inform the 



446 



THE V/AR IN THE EAST. 



authorities that I had left so many hundred wounded in such and 
such a village, and requested that their persons should be respected. 
But here it would he madness to trust to them in that way, and so I 
was obliged to retreat. Otherwise, I assure you, I should have ad- 
vanced, and by this time would have been before Erzerum. In this 
way the Turks have a great advantage over us, which is totally 
one-sided ; for we, on the contrary, take as great care of Turkish 
wounded prisoners as of our own men. For example, at Ardahan 
we found an hospital with 800 Turks. They were totally destitute 
of medical appHances ; and although my stores of bandages and 
medicines were insufficient for my own uses, I gave orders that 
everything should be divided impartially between the two nationali- 
ties. So that you see we are always fighting at a disadvantage, even 
when we are equal in numbers." 

After his victories in the summer, Mukhtar Pasha issued a proc- 
lamation to the soldiers and irregulars of the army operating on 
the frontiers of Yan and Bayazid, in anticipation of their crossing 
the frontiers, on the subject of the behavior they ought to practice 
toward the enemy and the people of the country. He expected 
every one " to comport himself with mildness toward the oppressed 
inhabitants of the country of Erivan " (the Russian province), and 
exhorted the soldiers, in conformity to their " good sentiments and 
traditional generosity," " to abstain from every act having for its 
object to satisfy the passions." He instructed them that they should 
never causelessly take the life of a human being ; should take care 
never to cause any injury to those who should ask mercy at their 
hands, to prisoners, or to deserters, unless they should commit acts 
which would render their destruction necessary, but should conduct 
the wounded among them to the hospitals ; that they should respect 
the property, the honor, and the houses of the inhabitants ; should 
abstain from every blameable action which is forbidden by the Holy 
law and the rules of generosity, and from every kind of disorder — 
as the setting on fire and destruction of stations, of straw and hay — 
and should be careful not to exceed the bounds of the law in carry- 
ing off booty. By their obeying these exhortations, he hoped their 
names would embellish the future history of Caucasia, and that by 
teaching with good examples civilization and humanity, they would 
" bring the torch of justice into those regions now covered with 
darkness." 

Accusations that the Russians had perpetrated acts of severity in 



THE A TROCITIES OF THE WAR. 



447 



repressing the Abkhasian insurrection, were made in a document 
which was publii-hed in July, under the signature of a Turkish chief 
of staff, the essential points of Avhich may be summarized as follows : 
That the Russians had burnt all the villages in the country ; that 
they had tired upon the hospitals established at Otchemtchiri ; that 
they had left the Turkish dead unburied, and eventually burnt them ; 
and that they had no prisoners, having killed all the wounded whom 
they took. The truth of these charges was admitted by implication. 
They were not denied, but were explained. The villages were 
burnt ; as to the firing upon the hospitals, it was suggested that the 
proper steps had not been taken to make the position of the hospi- 
tals known to the Russians ; the Turkish dead lay between the two 
armies on the other side of a river from the Russians ; they were 
not buried by either side, and, becoming offensive, the Russians 
placed dry wood over the corpses, and they were burned ; and, 
lastly, it was the rule to take no Abkhasians prisoners, but to shoot 
or bayonet them as rebels. 

Mr. Layard, the British Minister at Constantinople, wrote to the 
British Foreign Office, July 10th, that the accounts of the shocking 
treatment by the Russian authorities and troops of many villages in 
Cir cassia, on the approach of the Turkish forces, came from so many 
independent sources, that their general truth could scarcely be called 
in question. It does not appear, however, that these offenses were 
of a nature different from those specified above, which come under 
the head rather of barbarous severities to rebellious subjects than of 
wanton atrocities. 

The war in Europe was accompanied during the summer of 1877 
by a series of massacres and reprisals in which the scenes of 1876 
were re-enacted by Moslems on one side, and Bulgarians on the 
other, till the fairest parts of Bulgaria south of the Balkans were 
made an uninhabited waste. Charges of disregard of the laws of 
war and of the sanctity of hospitals and the property of neutrals 
were also brought, in several instances, against the Russians and 
their allies with such directness and force of testimony that they 
could not be escaped. 

On the 27th of May, the Rumanian batteries at Kalafat directed 
their fire at the principal Turkish hospital in Widin, although its 
position was pointed out by the flag of the Red Crescent. Several 
sick and wounded soldiers were killed or injured. During the bom- 
bardment of Rustchuk, in the latter part of June, the Russian bat- 



448 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



teries were aimed directly upon the rreiicli and English Consulates, 
the latter of which was destroyed, and upon the hospitals. When 
the attack was begun on the British Consulate, the Consul thought 
that the Russians did not see his flag, and put up a larger one, but 
the building was a wreck in half an hour afterward, and all of the 
furniture was broken up. This was continued for two or three days. 
The actuality of the damage done to neutral property is attested by 
pictures which were taken of the destroyed buildings and published 
in the illustrated papers. The Turks, in return, made a vigorous 
fire upon Giurgevo, and destroyed the town, not sparing the 
hospitals. 

From the beginning of July, stories of atrocities committed in 
Bulgaria by the followers of either side — now by Christians on Mo- 
hammedans, now by Mohammedans on Christians — were narrated 
with great volubility, and filled all the papers. Many of them were 
sheer fabrications or enormous exaggerations. It was stated, on un- 
doubted authority, that the manufacture of reports of atrocities had 
become a distinct business within the lines of both parties, and the 
stories were palmed off upon whatever coiTespondents could be in- 
duced to send them, or were forged and sent off in the names of 
correspondents without their knowledge. Many of these stories 
were taken up by the English newspapers and repeated and com- 
mented upon without discrimination or extenuation, for partisan 
purposes. But after ample allowance is made for the tales that failed 
to be substantiated, or were disproved, the record of fully authenti- 
cated instances of wanton destmction and murder must constitute 
one of the darkest chapters in the history of savage lust and ven- 
geance. The first accusations were brought against the Russians 
and Bulgarians ; and it is proved by an accumulation of indisputable 
testimony that the Bulgarians took advantage of the presence and 
protection of the Russian troops while they occupied the country 
south of the Balkans to make reprisals on their Mussulman neigh- 
bors for the insults they liad had to endure from them, and to avenge 
themselves for the massacres of 18T6. 

An official statement made by the Turkish Minister of Foreign 
Affairs on the 22d of July, recited, as established facts, that a 
mosque where the inhabitants of the village of Tiamsikoi had taken 
refuge upon the occupation of Tirnova by the Russians and Bulga- 
rians was burned, with all of the refugees within it ; and that twelve 
unarmed Mussulmans, inhabitants of the village of Soukoulan, near 



THE A T ROC I TIES OF THE WAR. 



449 



Eski Sagra, having surrendered to tlie Ilnssians, seven of them were 
massacred with axes bj the Bulgarians, and three others by the Cos- 
sacks ; and added the result of an estimate which had been made as 
exact as possible of the number of houses destroyed by fire, and of 
the Mussulman inhabitants killed by the Russians and Bulgarians in 
the villages which, to the date of the dispatch, had suffered by the 
invasion, as follows : 

''''First — At Batak, a village exclusively Mohammedan, in the dis- 
trict of Sistova, 100 houses were burned ; 200 men and 300 women 
perished ; total, 500 victims. It is believed that seven inhabitants 
survived. 

" Second — At Balovan, a Mussulman village in the district of Tir- 
nova, 250 houses were burned; 700 men and 1,200 women per- 
ished — in all, 1,900 victims. One person only, it is believed, escaped 
from the massacre. 

^' Third — At Caba-Bonnas, 100 houses were buined ; 200 men and 
300 women perished; total, 500 victims. Two persons escaped 
alive. 

'-''Fourth — At Kestambol, 150 houses were burned; 300 men and 
600 women perished ; total, 900 victims. 

''''Fifth — At Chems, a mixed village, 60 Mussulman houses were 
destroyed; 120 men and 200 women perished; total, 320 victims. 
One person only escaped. 

^' Sixth — At Tundja, a mixed village, 100 houses were destroyed ; 
250 men and 400 women perished ; total, 650 victims. Only three 
survivors." 

A statement followed, asserting that 820 houses had been set on 
fire in seven villages, which had been abandoned by the inhabitants 
before the enemy's arrival. On the 21th, the Governor-General of 
the vilayet of the Danube telegraphed that on the preceding Sun- 
day some Russians and Bulgarians had massacred every inhabitant, 
except three women and two men, of the A^illage of Yenikoi, eight 
hours distant from Osman Bazar, and that they had killed five per- 
sons in the village of Kost, nine hours distant from the same city. 
Another oflicial circular asserted that the Russians and Bulgarians 
had burned all the men and a part of the women of the village of 
Herste ; that seventy Mussulmans and the Imam of Dalioka had 
been shut up by the Bulgarians and Cossacks in a granary, and 
burned ; forty other Mussulmans of the same village had been mas- 
sacred, the women outraged, and the greater part of them then led. 



450 



THE WAR IN THE EAST 



with their children, to the outskirts of the village, and assassinated ; 
and that, after all the Mussulmar.s of Eski Sagra, Kasanlik, and the 
neighboring villages had been disarmed, the Bulgarians, having 
their arms, massacred 400 Mussulmans of Maglis, in the district of 
Kasanlik. Other official circulars described numerous outrages, 
which were alleged to have been committed by Bulgarians in the 
district of Kasanlik, and that thej had disarmed all the Mussulmans 
of a number of villages in the neighborhood of Kasanlik, and, af cer 
shutting them all up — men, women, and children — in a mosque, 
they tied them together by the arms, by means of their belts, and 
then stabbed tliem to death." Later dispatches, issued from time to 
time, gave accounts of murders and pillaging at Tirnova, Sistova, 
and numerous other places, which had been occupied by the Rus- 
sians. 

A large number of the Turkish stories of outrages, said to have 
been committed by their adversaries, stand unproved; many of 
them appear to be exaggerations of acts of heated violence ; some 
of them have been contradicted and disproved ; but many of them 
have been circumstantially confirmed. A correspondent of the 
Neue Freie Presse of Yienna, a journal friendly to the Russians, 
describes the massacre at Batak, which is mentioned in the Turkish 
official dispatches, as having occurred just after a street fight, in 
which the Bulgarian inhabitants were driven out by the Moslems. 
Half an hour afterward, the Cossacks entered the town, and began 
an onslaught on the Turkish population. According to the testi- 
mony of eye-witnesses, who escaped the massacre, even the Bul- 
garian women urged on the slaughter, and took part in it. This 
Batak is not the village where the massacre of 1876 occurred, but 
is in another district. The same correspondent described the Bul- 
garian women at Diskot as leading the mob of murderers, collecting 
the bodies of the murdered Turkish women and girls, and piling 
them in front of the house of the Mudir, and dancing upon them. 

Upon the capture of ISTicopolis, the mob rushed through the 
streets, murdering all the men who resisted, and committing barbar- 
ities on the women and children. In one quarter of the city, where 
the more fanatical Moslems dwelt, not a house was left without 
damage, and hardly a citizen could be found who had not been mal- 
treated. On the day following the capture, the town was plun- 
dered. 

A correspondent of the London Times visited the village of 



THE A TROCITIES OF THE WAR. 



OjBPandlik, near Kasanlik, and saw evidences that a massacre had 
been committed, in the shape of the body of a beautiful yonng 
woman, who had been murdered and cast away, and in the remains 
of women and children which had been thrown into a well. The 
people who remained in the place said that the Bulgarians, with a 
few Cossacks, had visited the place after the retreat of the regular 
Russian army, had taken the men outside of the village and shot 
them, had collected the women and children in one of the large 
houses, where they outraged them repeatedly, and had " continued 
pillaging and burning, and occasionally killing anybody they 
found." On his way back to the Turkish camp, the correspondent 
" came across upward of 120 dead Turks, who had all been mas- 
sacred by bayonet or sword, or shot suddenly. They were lying 
in groups, in one place forty, in another fifty, and two or three 
smaller parties.'' Among them were one woman and several old 
men. 

The work of destruction at Sistova after its capture was thorough- 
ly done. The correspondent of the London Times wrote : When 
I entered the Turkish quarter of the town (which has been deserted) 
I found that the pillagers had been there. Turkish books and manu 
scripts littered the streets ; the Moslem houses and shops were minus 
doors and windows, and their interiors w^ere empty. 1 visited a 
mosque, and found little Bulgarian children gathering firewood from 
the mass of splinters and woodwork which covered the floor. Upon in- 
quiry, I found that the Russian soldiers and Bulgarian residents were 
about equally responsible for these ' vandalisms.' " The correspond- 
ent of the New York Times, who also visited the place, gave a further 
description of the desolation : 

I have been all through the original Turkish quarter, where the 
Pasha's Konak and the palace of a wealthy Osmanli, with its high 
walls and grated windows, have been occupied by the Russian au- 
thorities. Every other house lies open to inspection, for the Bul- 
garians finished the work of destruction commenced by the Musco- 
vite soldiery. It was natural enough, too ; the latter came in with: 
their blood up from the fight, and the rayahs, as liberated slaves, 
sought to vent their fury upon their former masters. The negroes- 
did it at San Domingo, and there is no negro fresh from the shores 
of the Congo whom I would insult by comparing him socially or in- 
tellectually with a home-bred Bulgarian. There were some horrid 

scenes, they tell me, in Sistova on the morrow of the assault, and for 
24 



452 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



days after, and Turks were hunted out of tlieir hiding-places and shot 
down like dogs, and rape and murder and pillage, and every foul deed 
which lust and brutality could imagine, was perpetrated, under the 
eyes of the Russian officers, until there was nothing left wherewith 
to reproach the Osmanli for last summer's atrocities, except, it may 
be, the number of the victims. "When human victims were want- 
ing to their vengeance they wreaked it upon ir. animate things ; every 
house, from cellar to roof, has been gutted; chimney-places and 
walls have been demolished, floors torn up in search of concealed 
treasure. Handfuls of wool, bundles of rags of every sort and color, 
the accumulations of generations of Osmanli for the stuffing of their 
traditional divans, are scattered about the rooms like a thick carpet, 
or lie in heaps in the streets and gardens, where even the fruit trees 
have been chopped and hacked simply because they were once dear 
to the Moslem." 

On the 17th of July seventeen victims were collected in the hos- 
pital at Kasgrad, all bearing evidence of wounds inflicted by Rus- 
sian soldiery. The correspondent who saw them, and who tells the 
story, says that with what degree of thoroughness the injuries upon 
these poor people were inflicted, " may be gathered from the fact 
that the seventeen victims showed a total of thirty-six wounds. Of 
these, for example, a little girl of six years bore four. It would, 
therefore, appear that the murderers went to work in cold blood, and 
were not content with killing or wounding at the first stroke. These 
seventeen victims of Russian barbarity belonged to a band of fugi- 
tives from Ablava, who, on the 30th of June, were hurrying away 
to Rustchuk in a train of forty wagons, having received intimation 
of the atrocities which the advancing Russians were perpetrating in 
other places. The hostile horsemen had overtaken the fugitives on 
their way, and straightway began the human slaughter. Thirty-five 
poor people were killed on the spot, and the seventeen wounded 
creatures here are part of those who escaped with a little remnant of 
life." The wounds were from sabre strokes, lance-thrusts, and pistol 
shots. 

At about the same time the hospital at Shumla contained forty 
wounded persons, among whom were old women and children, and 
even sucking babes, one of the last bearing six wounds. On the 21st 
of July, the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs published officially 
a statement, which hid been drawn up and signed by all the news- 
paper correspondents at Shumla, embracing the representatives of 



THE ATROCITIES OF THE WAR. 



453 



seventeen leading papers of Germany, Austria, Hungary, France, 
England, Scotland, and the United States, reciting that " they de- 
clare that they have with their own eyes seen and have interrogated, 
both at Rasgrad and at Shumla, women, children, and old men 
wounded by lance and sword-thrusts, not to speak of injuries from 
firearms, which might be attributed to the accidents of legitimate 
war. These victims give horrible accounts of the treatment the Rus- 
sian troops, and sometimes even the Bulgarians, inflict on the fugi- 
tive Mussulmans. According to their declarations the entire Mus- 
sulman population of several villages have been massacred. Every 
day there are fresh arrivals of wounded. The undersigned declare 
that women and children are the most numerous among the victims, 
and that they bear lance wounds." 

According to a report made by Lieut. -Col. Wellesley, British Mili- 
tary Attache at the Russian headquarters, the Russian officers ac- 
counted for the' condition of these creatures by stating that some 
Russian cavalry had come across what they considered to be a Turk- 
ish convoy leaving Rustchuk, and summoned it to surrender. The 
Turks replied by firing on the cavalry, and women and children 
might easily have been wounded in the skirmish which ensued, for 
the supposed convoy proved to be a caravan of Turkish peasants 
leaving Rustchuk with their household goods. The Emperor had 
given orders to have the affair investigated. 

One of the correspondents who signed the circular at Shumla, after- 
ward caused it to be published that one of the wounded women had 
confessed to him, that the attack upon them was made by Bulgarians, 
not by Cossacks, but that they had been told to say that it was by 
the latter. 

The occupation of Eski Sagra by the Russians on the 22d of July 
was hailed by the Bulgarian population with wild enthusiasm. They 
took the management of affairs into their own hands, organized a 
provincial government, and proceeded forthwith to make reprisals on 
the Turks for all the wrongs they had suffered during centuries of 
misgovernment. A court-martial was instituted, before which ob- 
noxious Turks were tried and condemned. Six were hanged and 
four shot in one day, and executions followed on the succeeding 
days, until, it is said, At last the Turks were taken out of the city 
and killed by any Bulgarian who chose to do so, without form or 
trial," until the slaughter was stopped by an order prohibiting sum- 
mary executions. The sale of food to the Turks was prohibited, 



454 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



and the houses and shops of the Moslems were pillaged bj the rab- 
ble. This state of affairs continued for eleven days, during which, 
according to the Turkish accounts, 1,100 Mussulmans were put to 
death, till the attack was made on the Eussian positions before the 
town on the 31st of July, when panic and confusion set in among 
the Bulgarian citizens. The utmost terror took the place of the ex- 
ultation which they had felt, and the whole population, or all who 
could get away, tied incontinently from the city. The Bulgarian 
volunteers who were fighting in the lines outside, having orders to 
defend the town, bravely resisted the advance of the Turks, falling 
back step by step, and continued to fight in the streets until they 
were overpowered. The Turkish citizens did not wait till their 
army had entered the place, but anticipating that event, came out 
from their hiding-places and proceeded to attack the Bulgarian 
houses. Pillaging and massacre prevailed through the day and 
night. All Bulgarian men were killed at sight, while as a rule, 
women and children were spared. On the next day, Suleiman 
Pasha, the Turkish commander, ordered all the Moslems and Jews 
to leave the place, taking mth them their property. He then set fire 
to the town, and it was completely destroyed. 

Nearly all of the outrages committed on the Russian side were 
perpetrated by Bulgarians. Some of them, as in the case of the 
women in the hospitals at Pasgrad and Shumla, were traced appar- 
ently, but not conclusively, to the Pussian cavalry and Cossacks. 
There seem to be a few plausible grounds for the assertion which was 
made, that the Pussians countenanced, if they did not encourage, the 
pillaging which took place in some of the larger towns, as at Sistova 
and Eski Sagra. The Pussian higher ofiicers disclaimed all responsi- 
bilit}^ for the more atrocious acts of massacre and mutilation, and pro- 
fessed on all occasions an anxiety to repress them, and to inflict rig- 
orous punishment upon any of their soldiery, against whom acts 
contrary to the usages of civilized war could be proved. 

The Turks had a theory upon which they made the Pussians re- 
sponsible for all, even the worst acts, even when they were commit- 
ted, as were several of the massacres, by Bulgarians, far from their 
lines. They charged that the whole process of instigating riot, pil- 
lage, and massacre was conducted systematically by the Pussians, 
after a regularly formed plan. On the arrival of a cohimn into 
a village, notice would be given that the safety of the Mussulman 
population would be guaranteed. As soon as the headquarters of 



THE A TROCITIES OF THE WAR. 



455 



the commanding officer were establislied, the Miissuhnan inhabitants, 
consisting chiefly of women and children — for all the able-bodied 
men were in the army — would be gathered in a distant quarter, un- 
der guard, while the houses were searched for concealed arms and 
stowaways. Then the regular troops would be withdrawn, the 
commanders washing their hands of future consequences, and a few 
hours afterward, the massacres by Cossacks and Bulgarians would 
commence. The foreigners and newspaper correspondents having 
been all the time with the regular force, would see nothing of the 
disorderly proceedings which followed the withdrawal of the troops, 
and would neither be able to bear witness to them nor to contradict 
the Russian denials, but would always be able to say that the Rus- 
sian regular troops were not guilty of disorders. 

Admitting that the Russian treatment of hostile populations was 
severe, and that their prisoners were not as well cared for as they 
might have been under better circumstances of provision and trans- 
portation, the fact remains that a careful examination of all the in- 
cidents of the war has failed to bring home to them a single sub- 
stantiated instance of atrocity against them, and hardly one of cruelty 
which may not find some sort of an excuse in the circumstances of 
the case. The character which is given of their treatment of the 
Turks, by correspondents in Asia, is confirmed by the accounts of 
correspondents in Europe. Except as to the case of the wounded 
women at Rasgrad and Shumla, no charge of outrage made against 
the Cossacks has been substantiated with proof sufficient to give it 
even probability. Mr. Archibald Forbes, who accompanied the 
Russians in their campaigns north of the Balkans, as correspondent 
of the London Daily News^ published in the Nineteentk Century 
for November, 1877, a careful review of the question of atrocities, 
in which he strenuously denied that the Russian soldiery were ever 
guilty of them. " On soul and conscience," he said, " I believe the 
allegations thereof to be utterly false. Of all events which occurred 
south of the Balkans, I have merely hearsay knowledge. ' Atrocities ' 
in plenty were, however, charged against the Russians north of the 
Balkans, and respecting these I can speak from a wide range of 
personal experience. The Turks resident in the towns and villages 
of Bulgaria were peremptorily enjoined, by commands from Constan- 
tinople, to quit their homes and retire before the advancing Russians. 
In the great majority of cases they did so, and their evacuation was 
accomplished before the first Russian reached the vicinage of their 



456 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



abodes. This was so at Sistova, at Batak, and at many other places 
where murder and rapine were systematically and lyingly averred 
against the Russian soldiers. The Turks who anywhere chose to 

remain were unmolested, without exception, so far as I know 

Constantly accompanying Cossacks and other Russian cavalry in 
reconnoissances in front of the Rustchuk army, I never noticed any 
disposition to be cruel. I do not aver, remember, that atrocities 
were not committed on fugitive Turks ; but not by the Russians. 
JTorth of the Balkans, at least, Cossack lances and Russian sabres 
wrought no barbarity on defenseless men, women, and children." 

The views of Mr. Forbes on this subject are corroborated by a 
report which Lieutenant-Colonel Wellesley, a special attache of the 
British Government at the Russian headquarters in Bulgaria, made 
to Earl Derby on the 6th of August, to the effect that the result of 
his inquiries among Russians and Englishmen, had led him " to the 
honest and firm conclusion, that the statements of Russian cruelties 
are entirely without foundation." Yet he believed that the present 
war was one in which little quarter was given or expected on either 
side. He had heard of incendiarism and plunder by Bulgarians, but 
believed that the Russians tried to check them, and he had known 
cases where Turkish peasants had actually applied for a Cossack 
guard to protect them from Bulgarian attack. 

The Bulgarian population, usually so peaceful and submissive 
that it had become a reproach to them, seem to have been excited to 
frenzy by the presence of the Russians among them, and the belief 
that they were finally delivered from the Mohammedan oppression 
under which they had suffered. In their simplicity and ignorance 
they thought the conquest of the country from the Turks was finally 
effected as soon as the Russian lines had reached their homes, and all 
that they had to do was to possess and exercise their newly-gained 
liberties. They were too short-sighted to comprehend that it was 
possible for the tide of battle to turn, the Russians be driven away, 
and the Turks be restored to mastery over them. "With the ardor 
that is characteristic of such peoples, under similar circumstances, 
they gave themselves up to unrestrained, because unaccustomed, 
license ; with only the single thought of the wrongs they had suffered 
from the Turks, they set out to take vengeance, and make to them- 
selves restitution for ^liem. They sincerely thought that in pillaging 
the Turkish homes, they were only getting back what was their own, 
for they were accustomed to reply, when spoken to on the subject, 



MADAME CAMARA AND A WOUNDED CHILD. 



WOUNDED TURKS RETURNING FROM THE BATTLE OF KASANLIK. 



THE ATROCITIES OF THE WAR. 



459 



that all that the Turks had, had been stolen or \vrested from thenij 
and that they were fairly entitled to the whole of it. 

The dark story of Bulgarian excesses is relieved by a few acts 
showing the assertion of the spirit of justice amid the temptations 
to rapine and revenge. At Tirnova, the people took a pride in 
trying to show that they were superior in civilization to the Turks. 
Their behavior to the Turks was good, and the pillaging soon ceased. 
A committee was formed under the Archimandrite to watch over 
Turkish property, and special constables were appointed from among 
the young men of the town to help them in this work. A mixed 
commission of seven Bulgarians and three Turks was appointed at 
Kasanlik, who, sitting on the same bench together, harmoniously 
and impartially adjudged the cases which were brought before them 
solely in the interests of good order. The executions which took 
place in that city were in accordance with sentences inflicted by 
this commission. The missionaries of the American Board at Eski 
Sagra remained in the city through the whole conflict ; during its 
occupation by the Russians and its recaptm-e by the Turks; be- 
friended the suffering of both sides, and received the respect and 
protection of both. At one time they gave shelter to some Turks 
who were fleeino- from the Bulo^arian mob, and fed some of their 
Moslem neighbors while the edict against selling food to Mussul- 
mans was in force. When it came the turn of the Turk to pillage 
and destroy, these Moslems formed a guard around the missionaries, 
defended them against an attack by the Circassians, and finally in- 
duced the governor of the city to provide them with a guard of 
regular soldiers. At Sistova the Kadi, who was the only Tm'k that 
remained in the town, was treated with respect, and his house was 
not molested. 

The worst atrocities charged against Bulgarians were eclipsed, in 
magnitude and heinousness, as well as in number, by the excesses 
in which the Turks indulged. Terrible as are the stories which are 
told of their march of devastation through Lower Bulgaria or 
Eumelia, there is no lack of proof of the worst charges that are 
laid against them. The total destruction of Eski Sagra, which has 
been already recorded, is but a specimen of the fate which overtook 
many of the once flourishing cities and villages of the country of 
the rose gardens. On the Idtth of July, a band of Bashi-Bazouks 
entered the town of Yeni Sagra and warned the Moslem population 
that the Russians were within a short distance. The Moslems all 



460 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



fled, and some of them reaching Constantinople the next day, re- 
ported that the Russians were driving out and massacring the 
people, although no evidence has been produced that any Russians 
were actually near the place. The Bashi-Bazouks camped during 
the night near the railway station, and on the next day entered the 
town, plundered the bazars, set fire to the place, and began a scene 
of slaughter which lasted twenty-four hours. How many were 
killed can not be exactly ascertained, for they were left to lie where 
they fell, in their private gardens, in their houses, in the fields, and 
of those who fled it is not known how many succeeded in escaping. 
The place was visited three days after the massacre by an English 
correspondent, accompanied by an officer of the English Diplomatic 
service, whose search showed that not a single house or shop had 
escaped pillage. "It seems incredible," the correspondent says, 
" how they could have ransacked the place so completely in so short 
a time." The writer, after giving a description in detail of the 
murdered bodies and hideous sights that he saw, all of which 
formed conclusive evidence to him that there had been " a foul 
massacre of Bulgarians at Yeni Sagra," closed his account by stating 
that he had not mentioned a thing that he had not personally seen, 
and that he could substantiate eveiy detail by witnesses of un- 
doubted integrity. 

Kavarna is a town on the Black Sea, near Yama, inhabited by 
four or five hundred families, mostly G-reeks, of more than usual 
intelligence. In addition to its regular population, many of the in- 
habitants of the surrounding country had come into it for refuge 
against depredations. The Circassians attacked the town on the 
21st of July, and were met by a vigorous resistance. A proposition 
was made to the inhabitants to give a ransom of sixty thousand 
piasters or abandon the place, in consideration of which they should 
be spared. While this was under discussion, a part of the Circas- 
sians entered the town and began a course of plunder and mm'der 
which continued for more than twelve hours. The Turkish Gov- 
ernor at Yarna was appealed to while the massacre was going on, to 
send a force to save the people, and promised to do so, but at the 
same time attempted to excuse the massacre by saying that the 
Christians at Kavarna ought to have quitted their homes rather 
than repel the aggression by force of arms. Two vessels with troops 
were sent, which reached the place too late, the Christians assert, to 
stop the massacre. The Turkish official report claims that the ves- 



THE ATROCITIES OF THE WAR. 



461 



sels arrived in good time, that no such extensive massacres occurred 
as were reported, and that the whole number of persons killed 
among the plunderers, the troops, and the inhabitants, was only 
thirty. The Greek estimate of the number of victims was several 
hundred. The women and children and wounded, numbering in 
all, according to the Turkish official report, two thousand five hun- 
dred, were taken care of on the Turkish war vessels. 

Sopot and Carlova were beautiful towns of about 10,000 and 
20,000 inhabitants respectively, finely situated in a country of abun- 
dant pasturage, and inhabited by a thrifty and well-to-do popula- 
tion. Every building stood in a well-kept garden, and the gardens, 
as well as the whole towns, were watered by means of artificial 
canals leading down from the mountain streams. At Carlova was 
the center of the native cloth manufacturing of the country. The 
Russians came into Sopot, accompanied by Bulgarians, and disai-med 
the Mussulman population, a few of whom were killed in street 
rows. Then the Eussians retired and the Turks returned, bringing 
with them Bashi-Bazouks and Circassians, and the customary in- 
discriminate slaughter of the inhabitants was set up. The com- 
mander of the plundering force ordered them to desist from their 
wicked work, whereupon, it is said, they turned against him and 
locked him up. Having done all the damage possible at Sopot, 
the irregulars went to Carlova, which was saved from complete 
destruction by the arrival of regular troops, but not till a great 
many of the inhabitants had been killed. The whole district in 
which these towns were situated was \dsited, a few weeks after the 
massacres, by an English committee of relief, who bore provisions 
and aid to the desolated inhabitants. They reported that a fearful 
degree of suffering existed in consequence of the destruction which 
had been effected. At a village near Carlova was a camp of ten 
thousand Turkish refugees, who had no means of support whatever, 
and would again have none after the supplies given them by the 
committee were exhausted. One of the commission wrote to the 
New York Times of Carlova, that except that the houses were all 
standing, " the place was hardly worth calling a town any longer. 
There were no men left in it, and there was not a house or shop 
which had not been utterly wrecked within." The women showed 
the blood-stains on the walls and floors which marked the spot of 
the murder of their male relatives. The attention of another of 



462 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



the party was attracted to the faces of a number of children at the 
wooden bars of a window carefully fastened against intrudei*s. 

"At our inquiry if anybody was within, given in Turkish, the 
spaces between the bars became instantly blank. Calling up our 
dragoman, who spoke Bulgarian, we told him to speak gently, and 
the little noses reappeared. ' How many of you are there ? ' we in- 
quired. ' Ten,' was the faint reply, in a childish treble. ' How long 
have you been shut up here ? ' ' Nearly forty days.' ' But why do 
you stay in there % ' ' Oh, do not ask us ! they are killing every- 
body. Where is our father ? ' — from a dozen little throats at once." 

The father of these children, as well as the husband of a woman who 
made anxious inquiry respecting his fate, had probably been taken to 
Philippopolis and hung. The desolation of desolation," says one 
of the members of this commission, " was reached at Sopot. I am 
used to the phrases, ' razed to the ground,' ' utterly destroyed,' ^ sav- 
agery,' and ' utter vandalism,' but what is there left to give the 
reader a faint idea of what has happened to Sopot ? Scarcely one 
stone adheres to another. How men unhelped by the devil could 
have done the mere mechanical part of the work is a mystery. With 
scarcely an exception that we could make out, every Bulgarian 
house has been reduced to a heap of stones, bricks, and tiles." An- 
other of the commission says that several of the houses at this place 
were left standing, but describes Kalofer, another town in the im- 
mediate neighborhood, as an " utterly and irretrievably complete 
ruin," without a single roof remaining or a single whole wall left 
standing." Six hundred and forty Bulgarian women and children 
were found in a state of starvation at Sopot. Such are the accounts 
given by members of a committee which was organized to give 
relief, not to Bulgarian, but to Turkish sufferers. Both the mem- 
bers of the committee and the suffering women, spoke in high terms 
of the conduct of the Turkish regulars, who, one of the women 
said, had been as brothers to them. 

Similar desciiptions were given by men who visited the country 
and saw for themselves the things of which they tell — of village 
after village, " actually by the hundred," as one writer has it, till the 
reiteration of horrors and the use of the most expressive terms to 
denote utter devastation and fiendish atrocity becomes monotonous. 
The country people and the witnesses themselves became so accus- 
tomed to scenes of outrage that, to use the language of one of the 



THE A TROCITIES OF THE WAR. 



4^3 



latter, What had shocked one's nerves a few weeks before, was 
now looked upon almost with mdifference." 

The Turkish Government inflicted rigorous punishment upon all 
the men who were imphcated in the outrages committed by Bulga- 
rians. A series of executions, which may be well characterized as 
wholesale, followed the recovery of the territory south of the Bal- 
kans from Hussia ; and the policy of severity was continued even 
after the circumstances of the political and military situation had 
ceased to justify it. It was even carried into undisturbed districts 
where no revolt had been attempted, so that, it was said, no Bulga- 
rian Christian, however innocent, was safe. A reign of terror pre- 
vailed through all the country from Adrianople to the Balkans, and 
the " Terror in Bulgaria " became the name by which the situation 
throughout the province was designated. A correspondent wrote 
from Adrianople near the end of August, of executions going on at 
the rate of thirty in one day, and stating that the spectacle had 
grown so familiar on the streets that a hanging excited " no more 
popular attention than would be created by the merest trifle of 
street interest in London and ^N'ew York." A few days after this 
the statement was made in a private letter from the same place, that 
the most substantial and respectable men were selected there, and 
their property was confiscated ; that eighty of the chief inhabitants 
of Carlova had been hanged there, they being those whose conscious- 
ness of innocence had kept them from running away. Some of the 
incidents connected with the executions showed a peculiar heartless- 
ness and indifierence to public opinion on the part of the oflicers. 

Ahmed Yefik Pasha, one of the most intelligent and cultivated of 
the Turkish statesmen, and a man of literary reputation, was appointed 
Governor of Adrianople late in August, and hopes were entertained 
that his administration would be signalized by a relaxation of 
the severity of Turkish justice. The executions Avere, however, 
continued, but with more order and greater regard for the forms of 
law. The German Ambassador spoke to the Sultan in September 
about the excessive number of the executions, and the length of 
time they had continued, and was answered that the insurgents had 
been tried and sentenced by duly appointed and capable officers, 
and that only those were executed who had been guilty of offenses 
against the common law. 

A petition was presented to the Sultan in August, signed by 
three thousand Bulgarians, including the Archbishop and Bishops 



464 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



ot Adrianople, imyjloring the clemency of his Majesty, and promis- 
ing to remain in future faithful subjects of the Porte. 

The stories of these many violations of the usages of war and of 
the canons of humanity attracted the attention of the Governments 
of Europe. The correspondence which ensued upon the subject 
gave the Turkish Government an opportunity to make its excuses 
for the sad condition which was acknowledged to exist, and gave 
publicity to the results of such inquiry as it was possible for foreign 
agents to make as to the location of the responsibility for the 
atrocities. On the 10th of July, Mr. Layard, the British Ambas- 
sador, reported to his Government that the Sultan and liis ministers 
had expressed the fear that when the cruel treatment to which the 
Mussulman populations had been exposed became known, it would be 
verj^ difficult to repress the feelings of indignation and revenge 
which it would cause among their fellow-believers. In regard to 
the reports of Turkish misdeeds, Mr. Layard believed that the 
Turkish Government had been obliged to withdraw its troops and 
police from the provinces to strengthen its forces in the field, and 
the Circassians, Tartars, Kurds, and other wild tribes had taken ad- 
vantage of this state of things to plunder and rob. On the 25th of 
July, in sending a number of stories of outrage, he desired it to be 
clearly understood that he in no way vouched for their truth, and 
thought that many of them were greatly exaggerated. Partisan 
prejudice on both sides rendered it impossible to get trustworthy ac- 
counts. On the 1st of August, he wrote that lawlessness was en- 
couraged by the state of anarchy into which the country had been 
thrown in consequence of the war, and that the measures taken by 
the Porte to remove the inhabitants and cattle of certain districts 
had added to the evil. The German Government, in the latter part 
of August, moved by official reports made to it of Turkish cruelties 
to the Russian wounded and prisoners, addressed a note to the 
Porte, reminding it of the provisions of the Geneva Convention. 
Other powers, Austria and Italy, were invited to co-operate with 
the German Government in its representations, and did so, assuring 
the Porte, however, in their notes, that their course was not taken in 
any spirit hostile to Turkey, but solely in the interests of humanity. 
These powers also professed their readiness to address a similar 
protest to the Russian Government against any proved violation of 
the convention by that nation. A few days afterward, the British 
Government was notified by the Turkish Grand Yizier that orders 



THE A TROCITIES OF THE WAR. 



465 



had been given for the distribution among the Turkish troops of 
a Turkish translation of the Geneva Convention, in order that the 
violation of some of its rules, which was alleged to have taken place, 
and which it was admitted might in some instances have occurred 
thi'ough ignorance of the convention, might not be repeated. The 
Grand Yizier gave assurances that he would issue instructions that 
every possible measure should be taken to prevent excesses on the 
part of the Circassians and other irregular troops. 

The weight of evidence tends to exculpate the Turkish Govern- 
ment from the charge of deliberately countenancing the outrages 
that were complained of. It was a party to the Geneva Conven- 
tion, and intended in good faith, in its feeble way, to adhere to its 
provisions, but the same intrinsic weakness which infects every de- 
partment of its administration deprived it and its regular officers in 
the field of all power of restraining the excesses of its irregular 
troops. The regular Turkish soldiery are likewise exculpated by 
general testimony from all connection with outrages upon unarmed 
populations. The officers are almost universally spoken of as gentle- 
men, observing the usages and acknowledging the obligations of 
civilization, and the soldiers as, in the main, kind-hearted and 
humane ; and instances were not infrequent in which the poor Bul- 
garians, suffering under the infliction of a Bashi-Bazouk or Circas- 
sian raid, appealed confidently to the regulars for protection, and 
received it. The cruelty of the Turkish soldiery to their armed 
foes whom they had disabled or taken prisoners is well-established. 
The dead bodies of Russian soldiers were found in large numbers on 
numerous battle-fields, as at the Shipka Pass, at Telis, where an en- 
gagement took place on the 24th of October, stripped and mutilated ; 
and not a few instances are related in which the disabled Russians 
taken prisoners were left unattended to rather than kept to be in the 
way and to consume the scanty stores of provisions of the Turkish 
commissariat. 

The case of the Geshoffs, Manchester merchants at Philippopolis, 
excited much interest in England. Though native Bulgarians, they 
were accomplished gentlemen, of the best social and financial stand- 
ing at home and abroad. They had been educated at an English 
college, and were said to be in speech and ideas, " as British" as if 
they had been born " and brought up in England." They were ar- 
rested in August, ostensibly upon a charge that a man just before 
his execution had denounced them by name as guilty of treason. 



466 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The British Yice-Cousul at Fhilippopolis was instructed not to in- 
terfere for them. Their case was, however, taken up by the Ameri- 
can Legation. An appointment as Yice-Consul of the United 
States was secured for one of them, but the Turkish Government 
refused to recognize it, because it was made after they had been ar- 
rested. A day was appointed for their execution in September, but 
the act was delayed. The intercessions of their foreign friends were 
finally of effect, for orders were given in ITovember to treat them- 
selves and their families kindly ; they were afterward taken to Con- 
stantinople. 

A terrible amount of destitution was produced throughout the 
country in consequence of the rivalry of murder and destruction 
that prevailed. In Bulgarian and Mohammedan districts alike, whole 
stretches of country, with the villages they had once contained, were 
converted into a complete waste. The people who escaped mas- 
sacre fled to the large towns for refuge, or were picked up by the 
regular soldiery and gathered into camps, where they suffered great 
privations, being destitute of food and clothing, and wholly depend- 
ent for the means of existence upon such aid as was sent them from 
abroad. Mr. Layard, in a dispatch to the British Foreign Office, 
dated August 21st, described the number of fugitives as daily in- 
creasing. They were " wandering over the face of the country in 
the most terrible misery, having saved nothing, scarcely even their 
clothes." Disease was appearing among them, and when the cold 
weather set in, their sufferings would be dreadful and the loss of life 
great. Mr. Young, of the Red Cross Association, had found, in 
one spot, without shelter and food, about 2,000 Mussulman women 
and children, many of whom were wounded. Another agent had 
reported crowds of these fugitives in East Bulgaria, bivouacking 
over the country, having found 15,000 families at Eski-Djuma alone, 
in the utmost want. Some five thousand were at Rodesto, nearly 
13,000 at Adrianople, some seven or eight thousand at Fhilippopolis, 
many thousand at Constantinople, while vessels or trains were con- 
stantly running with hundreds more at different points. There was 
scarcely a town in the east of Rumelia, Mr. Layard said, which was 
not crowded with fugitives, and the total number could not be 
estimated. 

Subscriptions were taken and organizations formed in the more 
fortunate commercial towns and abroad for the relief of the desti- 
tute. The Turks, in the country and at Constantinople, co-operated 



THE A TROCITIES OF THE WAR. 



467 



in these efforts, making no distinction between Mohammedans and 
Christians." The Sultan opened one of his palaces to the fugitives, 
and many of them were received into private houses at Constanti- 
nople. 

Charges were made that the Montenegrins were cruel to the 
prisoners whom they captured, and murdered them. They had a 
basis of truth, in that during the four hundred years that Monte- 
negro has been at war with Turkey, it had been the policy of the 
Montenegrins to surround themselves with all the horrors as to their 
enemies that they could create, in part compensation for the dis- 
parity in nmnbers between them and the Turks. In accordance 
with this policy, it had been their custom to take no prisoners, but 
to behead, all the Turks whom they captured. This custom has 
been greatly mitigated under the influence of an improved civiliza- 
tion, so that during the recent wars the Montenegrins have generally 
taken prisoners and treated them as did other civilized people. Still 
there were many who indulged the old practice, and much that was 
alleged regarding the murder of prisoners was admitted to be true. 
iN'evertheless, hundreds of Turkish prisoners were kept in the 
country, in perfect security to themselves and with good feeling 
prevailing between them and the people, and were well cared for. 
It was the boast of the Montenegrins that they never harmed a 
woman or a child of their enemies. 



CHAPTER XYI. 



THE PHILANTHROPY OF THE WAR. 

Progress of Humane Principles— The Geneva Convention— The Russian Soldiers Aid 
Societies— The Empress and Ladies of Rank— The Turkish Aid Societies— The British 
Aid Societies — Queen Victoria — Lady Strangf ord — Baroness Burdett-Coutts — .American 
Socieues — Union of Nations for the Relief of Distress. 

Among the worst of the evils of war in olden times was the suf- 
fering which was inflicted upon the sick and wounded of the 
armies. I^ot only was the treatment which a disabled prisoner 
would receive at the hands of the enemy a matter of great doubt, 
but the provisions existing within the armies for the care of their 
own sick and wounded were extremely defective. The intensity of 
this evil has been greatly mitigated with the advance of civilization 
and the growth of comity among nations ; and the subject of im- 
proving the provisions for the care and comfort of invalid soldierj, 
and for insuring their security in the hands of an enemy, have 
received especial attention within the last twenty-five years. The 
manner of life of an army, and the circumstances under which war 
is necessarily conducted, make the best provisions that can be devised 
terribly inadequate. The resources of the army administration and 
of the Governments behind it have generally been found wholly 
insufficient to meet the cases to which they were to be applied ; nnd 
it has been found convenient in all nations, as the ideas of the 
amount of attention which should be given to this branch of the 
service have been enlarged, to supplement the official work with tlie 
resources of private benevolence. The later wars have seen the 
whole people of the belligerent nations interesting themselves in 
various ways in measures to prepare and forward to the field of 
action all articles and provisions which could be of use in saving 
suffering and promoting the comfort of the soldiers, and in dis- 
patching agents to attend to their wants. The Sanitary and Chris- 
tian Commissions in the United States during the civil war 
(468) 




LOADING AN AMBULANCE. 




A TURKISH SURGEON AND FIELD EQUIPAGE. 



THE PHILANTHROPY OF THE WAR. 



showed liow efficieut tliis volimtaiy work might be made. The 
gpmt which impels to such eifurt has so spread that during the 
Eusso-Turkish war the Sanitary and Aid Societies received sym- 
pathy and help from all the leading nations of civilization. 

The most important step wliich has ever been taken to relieve suf- 
fering and establish humanity in war, was in the adoption of the Ge- 
neva Convention, a code providing for the neutrality of hospitals and 
the care of the wonnded in IS 64:. It was suggested by Henry Dun ant, 
who, having witnessed the sad suffering on the battle-field of Sol- 
ferino, devoted himself to the search of a remedy against the 
recurrence of similar scenes. Eepresentatives of several European 
Governments met at Geneva, npon the invitation of the Swiss Gov- 
ernment, and adopted regulations providing that the places where 
wounds were dressed and the hospitals should be regarded as neutral ; 
further, that all persons engaged in the care of the sick should be 
free from molestation as long as they were attending to their duties 
of taking up or attending to the wounded on the battle-field, and 
that when this work was over, they should be allowed to return 
in safety to their own lines. Houses in which wounded were 
placed should be spared from the allotment of troops and the exac- 
tion of contributions, and the inhabitants of the country should be 
invited to participate in the care of the wounded, and assured of 
respect to their neutrality while doing so. A flag bearing a red 
cross to accompany the national flag was established as the sign by 
which the neutral places and buildings should be covered, and per- 
sons engaged in the humane work were requii-ed to distinguish 
themselves by wearing a white band with the red cross upon their 
arms. Several additional articles were adopted in 1868, and the 
provisions of the Convention were extended to cover warfare by 
sea. All the principal States of Em-ope, including Eussia and 
Turkey, have accepted the provisions of the Convention, and it was 
generally regarded and enforced among the regular troops iu the 
wars of 1876 and 1877. The Turks substituted on their neutral 
flags a red crescent for the red cross of the Clmstian nations, in 
deference to their religion, of which the crescent is the symbol, as 
the cross is of the Christian religion. 

In 1871, delegates from all the European powers met at Brussels 

on the proposition of the Emperor Alexander of Eussia, with the 

intention of extending the principles of the Geneva Convention to 

the population of belligerent countries, to the organization of vol- 
25 " 



472 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



imteers and reserve troops, and even to the arms and missiles em- 
ployed, but the negotiations brought no results. 

The sanitary wants of the Montenegrins and Servians during their 
wars of 1876 were carefully attended to by their Kussian sympathiz- 
ers. Large amounts of supplies were raised in Russia, and sent to 
the seat of war under the auspices of the Slavic committees, and 
German and Russian doctors were employed to attend to the sick 
and wounded. Spacious hospitals were established in Montenegro 
and near the scenes of the Herzegovinian insurrection. In the dis- 
tricts of Herzegovina and Bosnia, remote from these hospitals, how- 
ever, the fate of the wounded insurgents was a hard one, as no pro- 
visions whatever existed for their care. The arrangements of the 
Montenegrins and Servians themselves, as well as of the Turks, 
were very defective. The Servian service was, however, much im- 
proved during the course of the campaign under the care of Baron 
Mundy, an Austrian officer and Professor of Military Sanitary 
Science in the University of Yienna, who came to Belgrade at 
the end of July, 1876, and took charge of this branch of the work. 

During the war of 1877, the belligerents did much in the line of 
sanitary measures. Public and private letters from Russia declared 
the Empress and the Russian ladies were as diligent in efforts to re- 
lieve the sick and wounded of the army, as the Emperor in prepara- 
tions to carry on the war. 

At the opening of hostilities, the Red Cross Society was installed 
in a building near Fort Nicholas. There everything that human 
ingenuity could suggest or invent for the sick and wounded, was at 
hand, ready to be forwarded as soon as needed. 

The officers of the Russian Red Cross Society were women of high 
rank, Madame I^arishkina, born the Princess of Kourakini, Countess 
Shuvaloff — all ladies of fortune — working as if life depended on 
their success. From mansion to cottage the work went on the whole 
day long ; ladies offered their jewels, and they were rich in jewels ; 
funds rolled in from all sides, the peasants urging the acceptance of 
their mites. 

"Wlien the battles began, from every direction the report came 
that the Russians treated their Turkish prisoners with kindness. 
Among the prisoners at one time were four Turkish and two Ger- 
man doctors. The Turkish doctors were released, and the two Ger- 
mans put in charge of the Turks, with the same pay the Porte 
offered. 



THE PHILANTHROPY OF THE WAR. 



The Eussian troops carried tlie Bulgarian children of Eski Sagra, 
Yeni Sagra, and Kasanlik, some on gun-carriages and some in their 
arms, to save them from the Turks ; others drove along a cow t6 
feed the little ones with milk, and at Shipka they prepared a big 
cauldron of soup, which was ladled out and given to the starving 
fugitives. 

On the Shipka Pass, in spite of the horrible mutilations of Eus- 
sian prisoners by the Turks, Turkish prisoners in the hands of Eus- 
sians were spared, and their wounds carefully attended to. At first 
the Turks looked afraid ; they could not believe the Eussians less 
barbarous than themselves. On a certain day, a cart drove up with 
two wounded Bashi-Bazouks. The Grand Duke at once gave orders 
to have them furnished with bread and wine from his own quarters, 
and as there was no room in the hospitals, they were sent to a neigh- 
boring village.. Hundreds of fugitives were met who were loud in 
praise of Eussian kindness. All who could travel had free passes 
to their homes, and were furnished with five days' provisions. 

The field and transfer hospitals were located at Simnitza, Fratesti, 
and Turnu-Magurelli ; the latter was described as " one vast hospital," 
but was very unfavorably located in a district abounding in marshes 
and stagnant pools. The Government hospitals were very imperfect 
concerns, on account of the incompetency and inexperience of their 
attendants, and their ignorance of sanitary science and the elements 
of practical military surgery, although they were earnest and faithful 
enough. The amateur establishments and volunteer ambulances 
were pronounced better than Government provisions. ISTear the 
town were the buildings of the Eed Cross of Eumania, directed by 
Dr. Severance ; on the public square the hospital of Independence, 
able to receive but fifty patients, and presided over by Mademoiselle 
Marie Eossetti ; further on, the tents of the ladies of Jassy, super- 
intended by the Princesses I^athalie, Soutzo, and Ghika. ]S"ext was 
the Government Military Hospital, and then the admirable ambulance 
of the Jews of Moldavia. Mademoiselle Eossetti, assisted by the 
wives of the Ministers of War and Justice, secured the services of 
two leading physicians of the capital, also half a dozen young men 
who had just completed their medical studies in Paris. The hos- 
pital at Gorni-Studen, oue of the best, could accommodate 2,000 
patients, yet one week's fighting gave 10,000 wounded. 

According to a foreign medical ofiicer who visited them ofiicially, 
the Eumanian field hospitals were very defective. He wrote of them : 



474 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



" There is an insufficiency of surgeons, who are generally incom- 
petent from want of expeiience, and utterly deficient in executive 
ability, in the Rumanian field hospitals. Every one is either ignorant 
of the first principles of field hygiene, or culpably negligent in not 
enforcing proper police regulations. Dirt, disorder, and confusion 
everywhere ; order nowhere. There is material enough, if properly 
administered, for the immediate wants of 250 to 300 wounded, but 
from first to last I have met with but two men who knew or did 
their duty. No one can form an idea of the sufferings of the 
wounded, for whom there is no other conveyance from the field to 
the rear than bullock carts without springs, and the stretchei'^ are 
reeking with filth. Excuses may be made for much of this, from 
the fact that the Rumanians have had no experience in warfare, are 
deficient in means, and have been forced into a fight for which they 
are to-day unprepared. The parties charged with the execution 
meet the exigencies of the moment with doubt and indecision, where 
the safety of the soldier demands promptness and decision." The 
Russian field hospitals were not much better, except as regarded the 
surgeons, who were more numerous, and some of w^hom were men 
of talent and experience. 

The chief center of the Russian organization for the relief of sick 
and wounded, was at Kiev, on the Dnieper. Here was the regular 
military hospital and the second Red Cross Society, with Prince 
Demi doff at its head. 

At Kolrocheni, opposite the Prince's summer palace, was the large 
hospital, capable of receiving one thousand patients, and near it a 
number of frame buildings to supplement its accommodations. The 
nurses merited and received great commendation. The soldiers 
called them the little sisters, as they went quietly about, dressed in 
neat, brown serge, with long, white aprons, the red cross embroidered 
on the breast, and white handkerchiefs pinned over their heads, 
giving medicines, showing pictures, reading, or pouring out a cup of 
tea. 

Mne Russian cities pledged themselves to construct and support 
hospitals which should contain 1,280 beds. 

Among the noteworthy generosities of patriotic Russians, that of a 
village blacksmith, in Southern Russia, deserves praise. He offered 
to shoe, free of charge, all cavalry horses that passed his door, and as 
Cossacks were daily passing through the village, his gift was no mean 
one. A merchant of Odessa gave 250,000 cigars and cigarettes, and 



THE PHILANTIIROP Y OF THE WAR. 



475 



anotber, 400,000, to the sick and wounded. A merchant of Voronez 
gave ten tons of tobacco to the army, and another sent liberal sup- 
plies of food and luxuries to five thousand Cossacks who were en- 
camped near Rustchuk. 

Turning to Turkey, we find she had not been idle in philanthropy ; 
she had her Red Crescent Society, which did noble work. The Sultan 
took great interest in the work of the societies, and offered a room in 
the palace as a meeting-place for the committee, in order that they 
might be under his special protection. He examined the models of 
ambulance wagons, and rejected one with only two wheels, saying 
if he were wounded he would wish to be carried in a vehicle with 
four wheels, and he did not see why any soldier in his army should 
not be treated as well as himself. 

The Sultan himself subscribed £2,500 to the Red Crescent Society ; 
his Turkish subjects, following his lead, contributed more than 
£16,000. Sub- committees were formed in all the principal towns of 
the provinces. These committees were composed of representatives 
of the Ottoman Bank and the medical officers of health. They pre- 
pared and distributed large supplies of stores, also country wagons 
with mattresses, and a surgeon for each army. Besides large hos- 
pitals at Rustchak and Yarna, they fitted up one at Anatolie Kavak, 
on the Bosporus, and another on the Dardanelles. A very favorable 
account was given of the hospital at Yarna by a correspondent of the 
Edinburgh Scotsman who visited it. It was under the management 
of the Stafford House Committee. " The building," says the corre- 
spondent, is the most appropriate that could have been chosen in 
this desirable locality. It is of stone, has plenty of windows, and its 
ventilation has been improved by wooden shafts (with partitions to 
facilitate up and down draught) passing through the roof. I was 
gratified to remark that there was no display of luxury. On the 
contrary, the utmost frugality prevails. The resident surgeon's 
room, on the left of the entrance, is uncarpeted, and its sole furniture 
consists of a small deal table, a truckle bed covered with a rough 
horsecloth, and a most penurious-looking washstand. Opposite is the 
operating room, and behind is the pharmacy, well-stocked with 
drugs, most of which, for want of time, had to be procured from 
Constantinople. Passing on, we come to a spacious kitchen with 
the usual native kitchen-range for charcoal fires, and a large wash- 
house provided with every requisite. There are two wards, one con- 
taining thirty-five beds and the other fourteen. The first is unex- 



476 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



ceptionable. It is quite a pleasure to get out of the sun into its cool, 
pure atmosphere. The beds are ranged on raised floors on each side 
of an earthen path, and their dainty white coverlets look quite 
tempting to one who has been obliged, as I have, to camp out or 
sleep on the filthy floors of native coffee-houses in the interior. 
Beside each bed is a small table, furnished with a decanter and 
glasses." The hospital contained another ward, and a loft with stores 
and an abundance of all fixtures and appliances, disinfectants, and 
arrangements for ventilation. 

At Kars there were nine doctors with the army ; at Ardahan, five ; 
one with the battalion of Molla Suleiman, and eleven in the hospital 
at Erzerum. In the Scutari hospital, the doctors visiting it found 
1,300 sick and wounded Turks and two Russian prisoners, all well 
attended. Much difiiculty was felt in caring for the wounded Turks 
on account of their aversion to amputation. Most of them preferred 
to die whole to living mutilated. Their surgeons sympathized with 
this feeling, which had a religious foundation, so that in many of the 
purely Turkish hospitals numerous deaths occurred in cases in which 
life could have been saved with proper attention or under European 
surgeons. Much of the neglect which was charged against the Turk- 
ish management arose from their doctrine of fataHty, and from their 
superstitious objections to maiming the body. The Turkish soldiers, 
however, proved hardy patients, and many of them recovered under 
circumstances in which death would have seemed certain to a 
European. 

At Smyrna, where 1,500 Bulgarian refugees arrived, the authori- 
ties did all in their power to relieve their distress. At Constantinople, 
the Sultan placed one of his palaces (Beylerbey) at the disposal of 
the authorities for the reception of fugitives of all classes, and ordered 
that other buildings should be prepared for their accommodation. 
Many were taken into private houses, and some Turks, with Ahmed 
Yefik Pasha, exerted themselves to procure clothing for them before 
cold weather set in. The throngs of fugitives severely taxed the 
resources of the authorities to supply their needs, and although all 
the available buildings were given up for their accommodation, and 
much aid was afforded by private munificence, so great were their 
numbers and so destitute was their condition that a vast amount of 
suffering was inevitable. A similar state of affairs existed at Adri- 
anople, where 2,500 fugitives were congregated in August, and the 
garrison and 2,000 wounded soldiers had to be cared for. A cor- 



THE PHILANTHROP V OF THE WAR. 



A77 



respondent wrote from this place August 8tli : " The wounded sol- 
diers are being far better attended than I could have expected. Great 
difficulty was at first entertained of being able to have them, but 
that is now not so much felt as the want of surgeons. The military 
hospital, which I visited yesterday and found clean and well-venti- 
lated, contains about 600 men. The civil hospital some two hundred 
more ; while the rest are distributed about the town in what are 
called boujeklik, or large wooden buildings for storing silk cocoons, 
which seem designed by Providence for hospitals, so admirably 
suited are they to this purpose. Besides this, to their credit it must 
be recorded, the Sisters of the Assumption have undertaken to house 
and nurse between sixty and seventy wounded soldiers at some houses 
in different suburbs." 

"While the war was stained with the horrible atrocities which we 
have related in another place, and the Turkish offi.cers sometimes, as 
did Osman Pasha at Plevna, excusing himself under the plea of 
necessity, allowed their prisoners to be exposed to suffering and 
almost certain death^ the Turkish regular officers and soldiers gen- 
erally showed the traits of civilized humanity in their bearing toward 
their wounded enemies. In one instance, a Kassian soldier said, " My 
mate was wounded ; two Turks found him, washed his wound and 
bandaged it, then put him on his way. They wanted to take away 
his rifle, but when he declared his hfe would not be safe without it, 
they allowed him to keep it and charged him to keep out of the way 
of the Circassians, as they might do him harm." At Shumla, the 
Turkish officers placed f ezzes and Turkish cloaks on Kussian wound- 
ed lying on the field, to prevent their irregulars murdering them 
during the night. 

JS'ext to the belligerents, England did much in the line of relief. 
The English Minister, Mr. Layard, and. his wife, took great interest 
in the sanitary work. The English efforts were directed through two 
leading societies. The Stafford House Committee worked all through 
the Servian war, but during the Russo-Turkish war confined itseK, 
till the middle of June, to sending out stores to be administered by 
Ahmed Yefik Pasha, President of the House of Representatives. It 
then appointed a special commissioner, under whom surgeons were 
engaged in England and assigned to fields of duty in Europe and: 
Asia, and local surgeons, principally Greek and Armenian, were: 
employed. A wagon transport line was organized for communica- 
tion with the Balkans, and the head of the Yamboli Timova Rail- 



478 



THE WAR IN THE EAST 



way ; stores were forwarded to Erzerum, and nnnieroiis hospitals were 
established at suitable places. The society entered into relations 
with the Red Cresent, the I^ational Ottoman Society for the Kelief 
of the Sick and Wounded, under which it received protection and 
enjoyed all the privileges of the Geneva Convention. The British 
l^ational Society for aid to Sick and "Wounded, dispatched a ship 
with surgeons, who were sent where their ser\dces were most needed. 
Some of its surgeons rendered valuable services during the earlier 
operations south of the Balkans, and their attentions to the poor 
wounded women and children are described as having been incessant, 
" while they sacrificed every thought of personal comfort and rest to 
alleviate their suiferings." All of the societies, as well as the ladies' 
committees, worked together, with the sole object of relieving suffer- 
ing, regardless of creed or nationality, and sinking everything like 
petty competition among themselves. 

In Therapia, a place of fashionable resort, and where the English 
Minister's palace is, the ladies, mostly English residents, won much 
praise for their admirable work for the soldiers, contributing large 
sums of money, preparing bandages, beds, sheets, and all such neces- 
saries, and uniting their work with other aid societies in the vicinity. 

Mr. and Mrs. Layard were invited to dinner by the Sultan, who 
received them with great distinction at his table. Mrs. Layard was 
presented by his Majesty with a magnificent set of diamonds, in 
recognition of the generous offerings of the English people for the 
Turkish wounded. In August, Mr. Layard received from the Baron- 
ess Burdett-Coutts, who represented the contributors to the Turkish 
Belief Fund, £4,000, to relieve Turkish women and children, and 
afterward £200 for suffering soldiers. 

At Adrianople the Stafford House Committee made great exer- 
tions, opening two military hospitals for two hundred and sixty 
patients, and in one day dressing the wounds of one hundred and 
eighty soldiers. One surgeon took charge of fugitive women and 
children who were Turks, Bulgarians, and Jews. 

The Central Bulgarian Belief Committee, Sir H. Eliot, President, 
sent £300 for Bulgarian relief, and offered to supply medicines to 
any surgeon who would give his services to the work, and funds to 
provide food for urgent need. 

Queen Victoria and the Princess Beatrice spent much time mak- 
ing lint for the wounded of both sides, and forwarded a large num- 
ber of bandages to Mrs. Layard for distribution. 



THE PHILANTHROPY OF THE WAR. 



479 



Two of the physicians sent out at the expense of Lord Blaiityre, 
Drs. Casson and Featherstonehaugh, were able to show, under their 
charge, a well-ordered hospital, and through the liberality of Mrs. 
Layard, Lady Kemball, and other English ladies in Constantinople, 
they were able to provide themselves with many comforts unknown 
in Turkish hospitals. They worked nobly among the wounded, 
greatly aided by American missionaries. 

At Adrianople a small hospital was organized and conducted by 
an English lady, Mrs. Camara ; she was the only person of her 
position who dared remain in the city. Hearing of the dreadful 
massacre, she opened a large house for Turkish women and children, 
wounded or not wounded, receiving rations from Government for 
them. 

A Greek gentleman gave some large silk cocoon stores to be used 
as hospitals for wounded women and children. It was stated the 
fugitives in Adrianople numbered twenty-tive thousand five hundred, 
besides soldiers. The military hospitals contained six hundred men, 
the civil hospital two hundred, and the wooden buildings were filled 
also. In the suburbs the Sisters of the Assumption offered to house 
and nurse sixty or seventy wounded soldiers. 

A large supply of stores was forwarded to Erzerum under Lieut. 
M. Drummond, R. All stores and supplies were handed over to 
the Red Crescent Society, which took the expense of working them. 

Sometimes the Turkish officials were jealous of foreign interfer- 
ence, and would not allow members of the Soldiers' Aid Societies 
to carry out their work, but in many places the English surgeons 
were met with gratitude and co-operation. 

Much good work was done at Adrianople, Philippopolis, Eski 
Sagra, Kasanlik, and Shipka. Even when ordered to return, the 
English surgeons gave into the hands of the chief Turkish surgeon 
the medicines, bandages, stretchers, soups, and appliances they 
brought. What civilized nations call Turkish cruelty, the Turk 
counts far-sighted wisdom. When the doctors wished to amputate 
limbs, the Pashas told them they had special orders to prevent it. 

If they die now they will go to Paradise ; if you save their lives the 
Sultan wiU have to pay them a pension for forty years, and Turkey 
is not rich enough to afford that." Mr. Layard, the British Am- 
bassador, when he made an appeal to England for aid, said, " The 
Turkish Government is doing its best, but its action is almost para- 
lyzed by the magnitude of the misery it has to deal with." 



48o 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



At Bucliarest the English oj)ened hospitals, and received for them 
ample stores. The Rumanian hospitals were finely fitted up, and 
the patients well attended. The Hospital of the Princess of 
Rumania had fiftj-six patients, all bad cases, selected by her High- 
ness on account of the severity of their wounds. The Princess 
attended the wounded in person, clad in common working dress, 
and cheered the poor fellows by kind words and attention. General 
Eichter, the President of the Russian Red Cross Society, sent mes- 
sages of thanks to the English people and their societies for their 
generous sympathy and aid to Russian wounded. 

In September large funds were sent from England to Mr. Layard 
for distribution among the Turkish sufferers by the war. The 
Turkish Government placed one hundred and forty wagons, six 
pack horses, and an escort of ten horsemen, at the disposal of those 
who took in charge the sanitary and relief measures. The poor 
Bulgarian and Turkish sufferers were exceedingly grateful, saying, 
" Our children shall always call English people blessed." The four 
military hospitals at Eski Djuma were most complete with the help 
of the English societies. 

Lady Strangford's name is a synonym for benevolence. She is a 
member of a rich and noble family in England, her husband having 
been once British Ambassador to Turkey, but she left her home to 
organize the Red Cross service in that country. She was employed 
during the whole year in equipping hospitals and training others 
for the care of the wounded. Among the principal of the hospitals 
which she established was the one at Sophia, where she organized 
a corps of women and trained them, simply to show the Tm-ks 
how to do. 

The Baroness Burdett-Coutts was very active and efficient in her 
exertions for the relief of sufferers, and received a public acknowl- 
edgment from the Sultan. 

The extent which the organization of the benevolent work 
reached as the war advanced is shown by a letter written from Con- 
stantinople in October, which, speaking of the Red Crescent Society, 
says : 

It is astonishing what amount of money and hospital articles it 
has sent out to Turkey, the ambulances it has built, the many sur- 
geons it has in its employ, and the great nmnber of discipHned 
agents it has under its orders. 



THE PHILANTHROPY OF THE WAR. 48 1 



" Every steamer from England brings stores of preserved meats, 
of liquors, of lint, and material for the transport of the wounded, 
such as spring-beds, ambulances, etc^. Every division of the Turk- 
ish army has some of the Red Crescent personnel with complete 
field-apparatns, stationed near it when in camp and following it 
when it marches to battle. Yesterday six baggage vans of the so- 
ciety, with ambulance furnishings, went up to Philippopolis by the 
Adrianople Railway. Before she left here for the seat of hostilities, 
Lady Strangford had hospital accommodations provided at the royal 
palaces according to the Red Cross system and under its superin- 
tendence. The palaces of Beylerbey and Tcheragan, two of the 
finest imperial residences on the Bosporus, are now turned into 
hospitals, and they, as well as the great barracks at Scutari and on 
the heights of Bellevue, are crammed with patients under treatment. 
The headquarters of Lady Strangford are at Adrianople, where a 
vast hospital has been prepared, which now holds within its walls 
over two thousand. From this point she is enabled to communicate 
with the temporary and permanent hospitals in the rear of the 
armies and on the line of the roads to the Balkans and Servia. You 
can form an idea of the amount of suffering needing relief when I 
say that the battles in the Shipka Pass alone furnished over two 
thousand patients in two weeks." 

In New York two American Societies were organized, the Society 
of the Red Cross, to aid Russians, and the Society of the Crescent 
and the Cross, to aid both Russians and Turks. The Red Cross So- 
ciety was given up. The Cross and Crescent held a ball which 
yielded $600, and with other moneys contributed, $10,000 was 
raised ; half of the sum was sent to Constantinople and half to St. 
Petersburg, through the American Legations at the two cities. Mrs. 
Marshal O. Roberts gave a musical reception at her house, the proceeds 
of which went for the benefit of the sufferers in the Eastern war. 
The American missionaries in Turkey were often mentioned as giv- 
ing valuable aid to those who suffered in the war. 

The French people exhibited their sympathy with the enterprises 
for relief by the organization of numerous societies in the various 
parts of the republic to aid it. 

The Jews of Europe and the United States took a warm interest 
in the philanthropic work, particularly in behalf of their co-religion- 
ists, large numbers of whom were exposed to much suffering. 



482 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Committees were formed in all their principal societies, and liberal 
contributions and supplies of stores and provisions were made and 
forwarded from all quarters. 

Thus this war, which was marked in some points by atrocities of 
unusual heinousness, showing to what excesses the unrestrained 
passions of man may lead him, brought about in other points the 
co-operation of all nations in works of humanity and for the relief 
of distress. The cruelties of the belligerents and the outrages com- 
mitted by their irresponsible followers are another lesson against the 
evils of war. The union of mankind in works of relief, and the 
extent of the relief and provisions which were afforded and dis- 
tributed without distinction or prejudice, the combination of dif- 
ferent races and religions for common humanity which was exhibited, 
mark an important step in the progress of civilization and humane 
principles, which may be referred to in future times as one of the 
most creditable characteristics of the century. 




MURAD V. 



ALEXANDER, 

HEIR APPARENT TO THE RUSSIAN THRONE. 



CHAPTER XYII. 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 

Interest in the Personalities of the War— Sovereigns : The CzaV and the Imperial Family 
of Russia — Sultans: Abdul Hamid, Abdul Aziz, and Murad V. — Ismail Pasha, 
Prince Charles I,, Prince Milan IV., Prince Nicholas, the Emperors William and 
Francis Joseph, Queen Victoria, President MacMahon, King Humbert— Statesmen : 
Prince Gortchakoff, Gen. IgnatiefE, Count Shuvalofl, Prince Bismarck, Count An- 
drassy. Earl Beaconsfleld, Earl Derby, Mr. Layard, Lord Loftus, Sir H. Eiiot — Mid- 
hat, Edhem, Savfet, Aarifl, Server, Hussein Avni, Redif, Mahmoud Damad and Ahmed 
Vetik, Pashas — Ohannes Tchamith — Russian Generals : Nepokoitchitzky, Todleben, 
Radetzky, Zimmermann, Baron Kriidener, Gonrko, Skobeleff, Shilder-Shuldner, 
Prince Shachovsky, Dragomiroff, Prince Imeretinski, Tchernayeff, Loris Melikoff, 
TergukassofiF, Dewell, Heimaun, Oklobjio — Turkish Generals : Abdul Kerim, Me- 
hemet Ali, Suleiman, Osman, Hobart, Mukhtar, Ghazi Mehemed, Feizi, Yaver, 
Shevket, Rauf , Fuad, Dervish, Pashas. 

The troubles in Turkey and its dependencies have now engaged 
a large share of the attention of the Governments and people of 
the principal States of Europe for three years. The negotiations 
and actions relating to them have brought into prominence as par- 
ticipants many men, some of whose names were before familiar to 
the public, while of others little or nothing was known, in the United 
States at least, till they were mentioned in the current dispatches. 
The personal interest is always strong in matters of history, and the 
course of events is often largely shaped by personal character and 
motives. For these reasons, and because the knowledge of 
personal character and motives is often of material assistance in ex- 
plaining why certain turns are given to public affairs, it seems ap- 
propriate to give sketches of the lives and characters of the most 
prominent actors in the war, and its discussions, so far at least as 
they relate to those points. The sketches that follow are begun 
with accounts of the ruling families of the nationalities which were 
immediately engaged in the war, after which notices are given of 
the rulers of the States which participated in its discussions, then of 
the leading statesmen of the several nations, and of the Generals of 
the Russian and Turkish armies. 

(485) 



486 



THE WAR IN TH^ EAST. 



Alexander II., the Autocrat of Russia, is one of the best known 
monarchs of our age. "When he acceded to the throne, Russia had 
long been one of the great powers of tlie globe ; during his reign, 
which has now extended over more than twenty years, it has con- 
siderably grown in extent, increased in population, and advanced 
in civilization. At the present time the power of Russia is greater 
than it has been at any previous period of its history, and according 
to all appearances, it has not yet reached its climax. Alexander 
was born April 29 (old style, lY), 1818, and succeeded his father, 
the Emperor ISTicholas, March 2, 1855. According to the wish of 
his father, who had been surnamed the Iron Czar, his education, 
like that of all the Russian princes, Avas to have an essentially mili- 
tary character, but Alexander's disposition was found not to be 
warlike, and under the guidance of gifted teachers, especially the 
poet Shukovski, the development of his mind received a quite dif- 
ferent direction. Even during the reign of Nicholas he was 
anxious to keep as much as possible aloof from the war department, 
and to become thoroughly initiated into the administrative and dip- 
lomatic affairs of the Empire. He was repeatedly intrusted, during 
the absence of J^icholas from Russia, with the responsible duties of 
Regent of the Empire, and in 1848 he was sent by his father on a 
special mission to Berlin, Yienna, and other European capitals. As 
he ascended the throne in the midst of the Crimean war, he could 
not well change at once the policy of his father, but as soon as 
peace had been concluded, March 10, 1856, he hastened to Moscow 
to proclaim to the country and to the world the reformatory ideas 
which were to characterize his reign, and which aimed chiefly at a 
development of all the material and intellectual resources of his 
country. Rarely has the beginning of a new reign been hailed by 
a large people with greater enthusiasm. The Imperial promise that, 
"by the combined efforts of the Government and the people," the 
public administration should be improved, and that justice and mercy 
should reign in the courts of law, was received as an indication that 
the Emperor contemplated to substitute for the autocratic form 
of government an approach toward the freer and more civilized 
institutions of Central and Western Euro; e. Many acts in the first 
years of Alexander's reign appeared as a vigorous inauguration of a 
reformatory policy. Several ministers published reports on their 
departments which officially acquainted the entire people with facts 
which formerly had been treated as State secrets. The number of 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



487 



students at the Russian universities was no longer restricted ; the 
difficulty of obtaining passports for traveling abroad was removed ; 
the rigor of the press laws was relaxed ; and the numerous news- 
papers and periodicals which were founded were allowed to publish 
crushing philippics against administrative tyranny, and the habitual 
peculations of the officials. An enthusiastic and even fantastic ex- 
pectation of sweeping reforms and a radical regeneration of the 
Empire, and an impetuous desire to aid in the introduction of the 
new era, and to profit by it, spread through all classes of the popula- 
tion. When a law was issued for the creation of limited liability 
companies, no less than forty-seven companies of this kind were 
formed in the space of two years, with a combined capital of 358 
millions of rubles, a fact full of significance, if we consider that 
from the founding of the first joint stock company in 1Y99 
down to 1853, or during an entire half century previous to the com- 
mencement of the present reign, only twenty-six companies had 
been formed, and their united capital amounted only to 32 millions 
of rubles. The construction of a vast net of railways which were 
to traverse the Empire in all directions was planned and begun im- 
mediately after the accession of Alexander. Preparatory steps were 
also taken for a reorganization of the army, and the introduction of 
a system of public education comprising all degrees, from the 
lowest primary school to the university. But all these reforms were 
eclipsed by the abolition of serfage, a glorious act, which makes 
Alexander the second founder of Russia's greatness, and will assign 
to his reign a conspicuous place in the history of civilization. While 
these and other acts have gained for Alexander the deserved en- 
comiums of the civilized world, lie has justly been blamed for the 
barbaric severity with which his Government suppressed the Polish 
insurrection in 1863. Two attempts against the life of the Emperor, 
which were made in 1866 and 1867, the one in St. Petersburg by a 
member of the Russian sect of the Socialists, the other during a 
visit to Paris by a fanatical Pole, greatly diminished his reformatory 
zeal. The leaders of the anti-reformatory party made Alexander 
believe that the natural tendency of the reforms was the spreading 
of wild, communistic theories, and of a spirit of general insubordi- 
nation and anarchy, and they must have made a deep impression 
upon the Emperor's mind, for it is a ftict generally conceded by 
modern writers on Russia, that the poli -y of the Russian Govern- 
ment from that time has been less progressive. This is especially 



488 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



apparent in the determined opposition which the Government made 
to the many and urgent demands for the introduction of a constitu- 
tional form of government. In some departments, however, the 
work of progress has steadily been going on. The army was a 
second time thoroughly reorganized, and improvements highly com- 
mendable were made in the department of education, supplying 
Kussia with a national system of schools which is superior to that of 
many older countries of Europe, and promises to elevate the people 
ere long to a level with the best educated nations of the globe. 
Alexander has generally shown himself of a mild, humane disposi- 
tion, without being subject to a weak sentimentalism. Having the 
good fortune of finding at the beginning of his reign a statesman 
of eminent ability, Prince Gortchakoff, he has with unwavering 
confidence intrusted to his Chancellor during his entire reign the 
supreme direction of the Eussian foreign pohcy. There are not 
many traces of the Emperor demanding compliance with favorite 
views of his own. Only in regard to the rpaintenance of the most 
intimate relations with Germany has he on many occasions given 
so emphatic utterance to his personal feelings that they may be sup- 
posed to have guided the foreign policy of the Empire. 

The Emperor was married in 1841 to Maria, daughter of the 
Grand Duke Ludwig II. of Hesse, and his domestic life is believed 
to have been very happy. His oldest son, Nicholas, was born in 
1813, and died in 1865, having shortly before been betrothed to 
Princess Dagmar of Denmark, daughter of King Christian IX. and 
sister of the Princess of Wales and of the King of Greece. After 
the death of I^icholas, Princess Dagmar married the second son of 
the Emperor Alexander, who is now heir-apparent to the tln'one, or, 
as he is called in Hussia, Czarevitch. The offspring of this union 
are two sons and one daughter — Grand Duke J^icholas, born May 
18, 1868, and Grand Duke George, born May 10, 1871, and Grand 
Duchess Xenia, born April 18, 1875. The Czarevitch has given 
but few indications of his fiitare policy ; he is generally represented 
as not sharing altogether his father's views as to the continuance of 
intimate relations between Russia and Germany, and of being in 
much more outspoken sympathy with the most advanced section 
of the Pan-Slavists. He is Adjutant-General of the Emperor, Gene- 
ral of the Infantry and of the Cavalry, Commanding General of the 
Guard, and Hetman of all the Cossack troops. 

Besides the Czarevitch, the Emperor has four sons, namely : 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



489 



1. Grand Duke Yladimir, born April 22, 1847, and mariicd August 
27, 1874, to the Duchess Maria of Mecklenburg ; 2. Grand Duke 
Alexis, born January 14, 1850, and well-known by his travels in the 
United States ; 3. Grand Duke Sergius, born May 11, 1857 ; and 
4. Grand Dnke Paul, born October 3, 1860. The only daughter of 
the Emperor, Grand Duchess Maria, born October 17, 1853, was 
married January 23, 1874, to Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the sec- 
ond son of Queen Yictoria of England, and heir-apparent to the 
throne of Saxe Coburg-Gotha. 

The Emperor has three brothers, the Grand Dukes Constantino, 
Nicholas, and Michael. The elder, Constantine, born September 21, 
1827, is Grand Admiral of the Russian navy and President of the 
Imperial Council. He was married September 11, 1848, to Alex- 
andra, daughter of the late Duke Joseph of Saxe Altenburg, and 
has from this marriage four sons and two daughters. One of his 
daughters, Olga, is married to the King of Greece. Grand Duke 
Constantine takes a special interest in the affairs of the Church of 
Russia, and warmly patronizes the Society for Ecclesiastical Enlight- 
enment, which endeavors to cultivate a better acquaintance with the 
churches of Central and Western Europe, and thereby to raise the 
Russian Church to a higher level. 

The second brother, Grand Duke Nicholas, born August 8, 1831, 
holds the most influential position in the Russian army. He bears 
the title of a General of Engineers and Adjutant- General, and is 
President of the Supreme Council for the organization and instruc- 
tion of the army. Having early shown a predilection for military 
studies, he received in his youth the most careful instruction in mili- 
tary science, and since his promotion to the high position he novr 
holds, he had given his undivided attention to a thorough reorgani- 
zation of the Russian army. On the approach of the present war, 
the Grand Duke proposed to the Emperor that the State should take 
charge of all the families ^vhich might be deprived by the war of 
their supporters. The request was granted by the Emperor, and has 
of course gained for the Grand Duke an immense popularity with 
the Russian army. He was appointed Commander-in-chief of the 
European army, and his departure for the South, on December 1, 
1876, was made the occasion for a most enthusiastic ovation. 

The youngest brother of the Emperor, Grand Duke Michael, was 

appointed Commander-in-chief of the army of operations in Asia. 

Grand Duke Michael was born on October 25, 1832, and received a 
26 



490 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



military education similar to that of his brothers. Like them, he 
has long been invested with the highest military dignities. He is 
General of the Artillery, Quartermaster-General, Imperial Adjutant- 
General, and chief of eight Kussian and several foreign regiments. 
He has been married since August 28, 1857, with Princess Caecilia 
of Baden (now called Olga Feodorovna), and has six children, five 
sons, Nicholas, Michael, George, Alexander, and Sergius, and one 
daughter, An astasia. On February 26, 1873, the Grand Duke was 
appointed Governor-General of the Caucasus, an ofiice with which 
the chief command of the troops is connected. The residence of 
the Grand Duke and his family in Tiflis has impressed upon this 
Asiatic city the character of European civilization. Though always 
very active in the discharge of his military duties, the Grand Duke 
has taken a special interest in promoting European civilization in 
the Asiatic dominions of Eussia, and is regarded as a patron of 
science and art. When the telegraphic dispatch from Kishenev, 
which ordered him to cross the Turkish frontier, was received in 
Tiflis, the Grand Duke was already on his way to Alexandropol. 
The order was sent after him, and as everything had been fnlly pre- 
pared, could be immediately carried out. The Grand Duke was 
accompanied to the army by his eldest son Mcholas, born in 1859, 
and, therefore, now nineteen years of age. 

The only sister of the Emperor, Grand Duchess Olga, born Sep- 
tember 11, 1822, is married to the King of Wiirtenaberg. 

When the war against Turkey had been declared, the Czar, the 
Czarevitch, and all the adult members of the Imperial family, joined 
the advancing armies, the chief commanders of which, as has already 
been stated, were the two brothers of the Emperor. 

Abdul Hamid XL, the present ruler of Turkey, is the second son 
of the late Sultan, Abdul Medjid, and the thirty-fourth Sultan of 
the Ottoman Empire. He was born Sept. 22, 1842, and succeeded 
his brother, Murad Y., August 31, 1 876. Little was known of him 
up to the time when the revolutionary movements in Constantinople 
unexpectedly elevated him to the throne. His mother having died 
young, he was adopted by the second wife of his father, herself 
childless, who is very wealthy, and has made him heir to all her 
property. It is said that his initiation into the depravities of harem 
life was unusually early and complete, but that his vigorous consti- 
tution withstood the excesses that undermined his brother's health. 
His education, like that of his brother Murad, was partly conducted 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST 



491 



by Edhem Pasha, who, in February, 18^77, was appointed by hi in 
Grand Yizier. In 1867, he, with his brother Murad, accompanied 
his uncle, Sultan Abdul- Aziz, to the Paris Exhibition, and from this 
journey he derived a great fondness for the study of geography, 
which has ever since constituted his favorite pastime. Although he 
has always shown himself a staunch adherent of the Mohammedan 
creed, and was, therefore, supposed to sympathize as Sultan with the 
" Old Turkish " rather than the " Young Turkish " party, he has 
introduced French customs and demeanor into the daily life of those 
by whom he is intimately surrounded. Before he was called to the 
throne, he resided with his wife and two children, a boy of six years 
and a girl of three years, in a small palace which he had inherited 
from his father. Abdul-Hamid has been placed upon the throne 
during the greatest crisis through which the Ottoman Empire has 
yet passed. Though supposed to sympathize with the Old Turks, 
he followed during the first months of his reign the wise counsels of 
Turkey's greatest statesman, Midhat Pasha ; and while intimidated 
by the urgent demands of the Constantinople Conference, even gave 
his assent to Midhat Pasha's bold draft of a Tm*kish Constitution. 
But only a few weeks later the sudden discharge, from the most 
despicable motives, of Midhat Pasha, gave to the world an unmis- 
takable proof of the utter inca])acity and worthlessness of the young 
Sultan. His conduct throughout the war has confirmed the unfavor- 
able opinion which has quite generally been formed of his character. 
While the Russian Czar, his sons, brothers, and nephews, are taking 
an active part in the campaign, and on many occasions have personally 
shared the dangers and privations of the war, Abdul-Hamid has not 
left his harem for a single day, and what has become known of his 
words and deeds, has only exerted a chilling influence upon the de- 
moralized Turkish army. When, therefore, a report spread in July, 
1877, that Abdul-Hamid, being tired of the cares of government, 
intended to resign in favor of his cousin, Izzedin Pasha, the eldest 
son of Abdul Aziz, it found ready credence. 

Abdul Aziz, who ruled over the Ottoman Empire when the insur- 
rection of 1875 began, was the thirty-second Sultan. He was born 
Feb. 9, 1830, and succeeded his brother, Abdul Medjid, June 25, 
1861. His early life and the first years of his reign awakened a 
general hope that he would inaugurate an era of reform, and possi- 
bly regenerate the decaying Empire. These hopes were, however, 
doomed to disappointment, and the Empire during his reign rapidly 



492 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



advanced on the road to ruin and dissolution. Turkey had at this 
time many statesmen of more than ordinary ability, who were 
anxious to arrest the progressive decay of the Empire, and to place 
the country on a level with the civilized nations of Europe and 
America. But their advice was not heeded ; and the Sultan, indif- 
ferent about the financial ruin of the country, and the dangers which 
threatened its very existence, wasted the greater part of the loans by 
which some of his ministers hoped to restore the national credit, for 
the most trivial purposes. The feeble hold which the Ottoman Porte 
had had for some time of its Christian dependencies, was still fur- 
ther weakened by still further concessions which were extorted 
by the Rumanians and Servians. In Rumania, the election of 
Prince Charles of Hohenzollern secured the permanent conver- 
sion of this country from an elective into a. hereditary monarchy, 
and was an important approach toward its entire independence. 
In Servia, the Turkish garrison had to be withdrawn from the 
fortress of Belgrade, and complete political autonomy to be 
granted. The ruler of Egypt, Ismail Pasha, succeeded in obtaining 
the higher title of Khedive, nearly all the prerogatives of an inde- 
pendent sovereign and a change of the law of succession in Egypt, 
so as to make it conform to that prevailing in all the Christian 
States of Europe. When the insurrection in Herzegovina, in 1875, 
involved the Empire in new and immediate dangers, the Sultan, al- 
though only forty-five years of age, bore in his body and mind the 
marks of utter senile infirmity. The insatiable avarice which 
prompted him to appropriate, even in the most imperilled condition 
of the country, all the money that could be raised for personal pur- 
poses, would have hastened the downfall of the Empire, had not two 
of the greatest Turkish statesmen, Hussein Avni Pasha and Mid- 
hat Pasha, brought his reign to a sudden end, by proclaiming 
Murad Y., the son of the late Sultan Abdul Medjid, and nephew of 
Abdul Aziz, and by forcibly dethroning Abdul Aziz. The de- 
throned Sultan survived his fate only for a few weeks, and his sud- 
den death was declared by the testimony of a number of physicians 
to have been caused by suicide. 

Sultan Murad Y., the eldest son of the late Sultan Abdul Medjid, 
and elder brother of the present Sultan, Abdul Hamid, occupied the 
throne of the Ottoman Empire for a few weeks only. He was born 
September 21, 1840, and was educated together with his brother, 
Abdul Hamid. During their stay in France, Murad gave himself 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



493 



np to dissipations wliicli seriously undermined his health. Having 
returned to Constantinople, he continued his excesses, and shattered 
his entire system by intemperate habits. After the accession of his 
uncle, Abdul Aziz, to the throne in 1861, he was treated very 
harshly, and shut out from all public affairs, as his uncle was anxious 
to change the law of succession, and to leave the throne to his own son, 
Izzedin, in the place of Murad, who, according to the Turkish law, 
was the heir-apparent, because he was the next oldest male member 
of the Imperial fatnily born in the Imperial harem. Upon the de- 
thronement of his uncle by a palace revolution, on May 30, 18T6, Mu- 
rad was called to the throne, and — the first instance in Turkish history 
— was proclaimed as Emperor by the grace of God and the will of the 
nation." Soon, however, it became evident that the condition, both 
of his mind and his bodily health, made him utterly unfit for being 
the head of . the State in these troubled times. In consequence, his 
brother, Abdul Hamid, was appointed Kegent on July 29th, and on 
August 31st, Murad was dethroned, and Abdul Hamid proclaimed 
Sultan in his place. According to a letter from a person of rank in 
the Turkish capital, published in the London Times of Tune 15th, 
Murad looked upon his brother as a usurper, and declared that some 
day he would have to ask an account of him. He also declared him- 
self strongly in favor of peace, as the country had the misfortune of 
no longer possessing a good administration. The letter in the Times 
produced a great sensation, and the Turkish Government deemed it 
necessary to publish an official denial of all the assertions contained 
in it. 

Ismail Pasha, the ruler of Egypt, is the second son of the great 
warrior, Ibrahim Pasha, and grandson of Mehemet Ali, the first 
Viceroy of Egypt. He was born in 1830, and received his education 
in Paris. He acceded to the Government of Egypt in 1863, after 
the death of his uncle. Said Pasha. His reign abounds in important 
events. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, which was attended 
by the Empress of France, the Emperor of Austria, the Crown Prince 
of Prussia, and the representatives of the principal newspapers in 
Europe and America, foreshadowed a new era of power and inde- 
pendence for a country which had been so famous in the history of 
the ancient world. Ismail had contemplated from the beginning of 
his reign the severance of all connection with Turkey, and though 
want of sympathy of the great powers of Europe with this project 
caused him to desist from an open war of independence, he has 



494 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



gradually obtained important concessions from the Porte. By con- 
ferring upon him the higher title of Khedive, and by changing the law 
of succession so as to make it, in accordance with the laws obtaining 
in Christian Europe, hereditary in the direct line of Ismail, the 
Porte herseK smoothed the way for the future independence of 
Egypt. A still more efficient preparation for this event may be 
found in the annexation of large tracts of land west and south of 
Egypt, especially of the entire kingdom of Darfoor. Even now 
the Khedive of Egypt rules over a country which, in point of extent, 
is the seventh among the large countries of the globe, and none of 
the others certainly has a better prospect of further territorial progress 
under an energetic ruler. By the convocation of an assembly of nota- 
bles, a beginning was made in 1866 of introducing parliamentary 
government. Numerous Europeans and Americans were employed 
in the civil and military service of Egypt, and promoted to the 
highest offices, and it can hardly be doubted that the Khedive 
would have succeeded in establishing the entire independence of 
Egypt, had it not been for the utterly disordered condition of his 
finances. It has been a matter of surprise that the embarrassed po- 
sition of Turkey in 187T did not induce the Khedive to declare his 
own independence ; that he even, the only one of the -vassals of Tur- 
key, came to the aid of the Sultan by sending an auxiliary force to 
the seat of war. But it must be remembered that the Khedive can 
not change his relations to Turkey without having the support, or at 
least the sympathy, of England, and that England at present finds it 
her interest to patronize Turkey. 

Prince Charles I. of Rumania, the second son of Prince Charles 
Anthony of Hohenzollern, was bom April 20, 1839. His father 
was a sovereign prince of Germany, until 1849, when he ceded the 
sovereignty over the little principality of Hohenzollem-Sigmaringen 
to the kindred royal house of Prussia. His son Charles was, in April, 
1866, elected, almost unanimously. Prince of Rumania by a popular 
vote of the country. The election was accepted by the young Prince 
after a short hesitation, and on May 22d, he entered the capital of 
the country, Bucharest, where he was enthusiastically received by 
the people. The task of Prince Charles was extremely difficult, for 
the condition of the people was in many respects wretched. Hardly 
anything had been done for the education of the people ; the state 
of the finances was most deplorable, and the bitter strife of opposing 
political parties appeared to make a stable government almost im- 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



495 



possible. It is generally conceded that tlie principality lias made 
great progress during the reign of Prince Charles. The education 
and financial condition of the country have greatly improved, and 
the aim which all the political parties of Rumania have invariably 
kept in view, has steadily been approached. The Prince of Ruma- 
nia, in common with the unanimous opinion of the leaders of all the 
political parties, has always conformed the foreign pohcy of the prin- 
cipality to this aim. Since the beginning of the troubles in 18Y5, he 
has alternately been ready to join the insurrection against the Porte, 
or to proclaim his neutrality, according as the interest of the princi- 
pality appeared to demand it. ^ iter the declaration of war by Rus- 
sia, the long-awaited time for proclaiming the independence of Ru- 
mania appeared to have come. Rumania declared war against Tur- 
key, and Prince Charles thus became the first sovereign of an inde- 
pendent Rumanian State. 

Milan lY. Obrenovitch, Prince of Servia, was bom Sept. 18, 1854, 
and is the fourth Prince of Servia from the house Obrenovitch. His 
father died soon after his birth, and his mother, a Wallachian Princess, 
after conducting his education for some time herself, sent him to 
Paris, into the institution of Professor Huet. He remained there 
until the fourteenth year of his age, when he was elected Prince of 
Servia, to succeed his assassinated grand uncle, Michael HI. A regency 
consisting of three distinguished statesmen carried on the Govern- 
ment in his name until August 22, 1872, when Milan assumed him- 
self the reins of government. An immense crowd, greater than had 
ever been seen there before, assembled in Belgrade to witness the 
coronation festivities. On this, as on every subsequent occasion, the 
people of Servia did not conceal their ardent hope that the young 
Prince would succeed in wholly severing the connection of Servia 
with Turkey, and re-establish an independent Servian Empire. The 
insurrection of the oppressed Christians in Bosnia in 18Y5, appeared 
to afford the right opportunity for the realization of these hopes. In 
1876, Servia declared war against Tuj-key, and the Servian army, 
which was commanded by the Russian General Tchernayeff, pro- 
claimed Milan King of Servia ; but the disapprobation of this step 
by the great powers of Europe, compelled Milan to decline the offered, 
dignity, and even the proclamation of the independence of Servia. The 
Servian war ended in a complete victory of the Turks, and the confix 
dence of a large portion of the Servian people in Milan was conse- 
quently shaken. There were rumors of conspiracies against Milan, aim- 



496 THE WAR IN THE EAST. 

ing at either placing Prince Karageorgevitcla, the representative of a 
rival family, and the reputed author of the assassination of Prince 
Michael III., upon the Servian throne, or of uniting Servia with 
Montenegro under the rule of Prince. IS'icholas of the latter country. 
The treaty of peace which concluded the war between Russia and 
Turkey recognized tho independence of Servia, and thus made Prince 
Milan the first sovereign of the restored Servian State. 

Prince ISTicholas of Montenegro is one of the most popular and 
idolized princes of the present age. He was bom on September 25, 
1841, and received his first instruction at Cettigne, under the per- 
sonal inspection of his predecessor. Prince Danilo. Subsequently, 
he continued his studies in Trieste, and in 1855 Danilo sent him to 
Paris, where he entered the military academy. In the spring after 
the assassination of Prince Danilo, he was proclaimed Prince of Mon- 
tenegro. In the autumn of 1860 he married the beautiful daughter 
of the Waywode Yukovitch, Milena, by whom he has one son, Dan- 
ilo, born in 1871, and six daughters. The assassinated Prince Mich- 
ael of Servia was godfather to the first three children, and the Em- 
peror Alexander to the others. ITicholas has made several journeys 
through Europe, and has been received with marked distinction at 
the Courts of Austria, Germany, Pussia, and Italy. In Pussia he 
was even treated as a member of the Imperial family. Prince Nich- 
olas is a very accomplished scholar. He speaks the Servian, French, 
Italian, German, and Pussian languages, and has distinguished him- 
self as a poet. The best known among his poems, '^Onamo^ Ona- 
mo, sa hrda ona^^ (Yonder, yonder, behind that Mountain), is full 
of patriotic fire, and expresses the longing of the Servian nationality 
for deliverance and reunion. It has become a favorite song of the 
Servian race, not only in Montenegro, but in Servia, Bosnia, and the 
Servian provinces of Austria. Prince Nicholas is greatly beloved by 
his own people. He takes part in all the pleasures of his subjects, 
mixing in the athletic sports, casting the stone, pitching quoits, laugh- 
ing, frolicking, quizzing ; one morning firing at a mark, another sit- 
ting as umpire in a quoit match of his guard, passing the evenings 
at games of dexterity with his staff and his guests, in all cases taking 
his part of the consequences of the game in perfect good humor, and 
from his sheer herculean physical force always getting the best in 
the rough games. " I have seen him weep," wiites a correspondent, 

in the midst of all his guards as a poor old mother came with the 
cap of her only son (killed at Rogami) in her hand, to salute her 



WILHELM, EMPEEOE OF GEEMANY. 




THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA. 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



499 



Prince in the high-street, not to ask for charitj, but for sympathy. 
He turned to me to tell me her story, but lie could hardly speak for 
emotion." 

The Emperor William of Germany has risen during the last 
twelve years from the position of the bead of the smallest of the 
so-called Great Powers to be the leading sovereign of Europe. He 
gained the first step toward the increase of his kingdom in 1866, 
when he wrested from Austria the supremacy of influence in Ger- 
many, and made Prussia the head of the JSTorth German Confedera- 
ti()n. The war with France in 18T0-'T1 was followed by the union 
of the German States for national purposes into the German Em- 
pire, and the proclamation of William as Emperor. This position, 
combined with the prestige whicb be won tbrough the excellence of 
bis civil administration and the skillful handling of the German 
armies, has given him and his State an influence which no other 
power has yet ventured to question. He has been for many years 
the confidential friend and trusted adviser of the Czar of Russia, 
who is his nephew. As a member of the Tri-Imperial Alliance, he 
has had. much to do witb the consultations and discussions which 
have taken ]3lace in regard to Eastern affairs, and is credited with 
having often used his influence to smooth away the differences that 
have arisen between Pussia and her rivals — Austria and Great 
Britain. The ties of relationship and personal friendship have 
caused him to sympathize with the Czar, and so to manage his me- 
diations as to disarrange as little as possible the plans of the Pus- 
si an s. 

The Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria-Hungary, although he 
represents the State which, next to the belligerents, has the most 
direct and intense interest in the settlement of the questions of the 
war, has taken but little active part in the movements relating to it. 
A weak sovereign of a State that is in a decline, his reign has been 
unfortunate. He came into power after the close of the revolution- 
ary movements of 1848, when his uncle, the Emperor Ferdinand, 
having been proved incompetent to meet requirements of his posi- 
tion, abdicated, to give way to a younger man, who, it was hoped, 
would be able to meet the new situation with greater vigor. He 
brought 0T]lv common abilities to face duties which required extra- 
ordinary ones. A few years after his accession, he was obliged to 
give up some of the best provinces of the Empire in Italy ; the war 
with Prussia in 1866 resulted in depriving Austria of its influence 



THE WAR IN THE EAST 



in Germany. Austria was then obliged, in order to preserve 
its existence, to arrange a compromise and divide its sovereignty 
with the strongest of its disaffected nationalities, the Hungarians ; 
and it has since been distracted by the conflicting claims of its other 
rival nationaKties. The Emperor has taken but little part in the 
adjustment of these troubles, but has left them all, as well as the 
negotiations with relation to Turkish affairs, involving matters 
relating immediately to the internal condition of the Empire, wholly 
to his chancellors. He is supposed to be rather more in sympathy 
with the Grerman party, which is not strongly hostile to Eussia, than 
with the Hungarian party, which is intensely Turkish and anti- 
Eussian. 

The Queen of England has less actual influence over the public 
affairs of the nation than the head of any existing State. Hence, 
the views of Queen Victoria are really of less importance than those 
of her ministers, of the members of Parliament, upon whom the 
ministers depend for official existence, or even than those of prom- 
inent citizens. The Queen is personally allied to the German 
Emperor by the marriage of one of her daughters, and with the 
Czar by the marriage of her second son, and might be expected to 
be influenced somewhat by the consideration of these facts ; on the 
other hand, she can not forget that the integrity of her new title of 
Empress of India is thought by many leaders of the dominant 
party of her nation to be seriously imperilled by the success of the 
Russians and the defeat of the Turks. Prince Albert, the late hus- 
band of the Queen, was a strong friend of Turkey during the 
Crimean war ; and her Majesty, so far as she has expressed herself, 
has been supposed to incline to the same side. 

Marshal Marie-Edme-Patrice-Maurice de MacMahou, Duke of 
Magenta, and President of the French Repubhc, is of Irish descent, 
and was born in 1808. He entered the military service of France 
in 1825, and has served his country in many important military and 
official positions. He distinguished himself during the Crimean 
war in the storming of the Malakoff at Sebastopol on the 8th of 
September, 1855. He served with success in the Italian campaign 
of 1859, where he received his ducal title. He was appointed 
Governor of Algeria in 1862, but his administration was a failure. 
He was a prominent commander of French troops in the war with 
Prussia in 1870, in which he suffered several defeats, culminating 
in the surrender of the army and the collapse of the French power 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



501 



at Sedan on the 2d of September. He was wounded in the action 
at this place, and was obliged to retire from command, so that he 
escaped the mortification of personally signing the capitulation. He 
afterward successfully conducted the siege of Faris against the Com- 
mune. He was elected President of the Republic to succeed M. 
Thiers on his resignation in May, 1873. In November of the same 
year the term of his office as President was definitely fixed at seven 
years. The French Government was represented during the nego- 
tiations of 1875 and 1876, and was one of the signataries of the 
Andrassy note and the Berlin memorandum. During the most of 
1877, the attention of President MacMahon and the French people 
was engrossed with the settlement of questions of internal politics, 
and no interference was attempted in Eastern affairs. President 
MacMahon is devoted to the interests of France, and his views on 
Eastern topics are governed wholly by the consideration of those 
interests. Relating chiefly to Syria, the interests have not been 
directly affected by anything that has yet taken place. 

The present King of Italy, having been upon the throne only a 
few weeks, has had "very little to do, officially, with the discussions 
to which Turkish affairs have given rise. He became king in Jan- 
uary, 1878, upon the death of his father. King Yictor Emmanuel. 
The late king, as King of Sardinia, participated in the Crimean war 
as the ally of France, Great Britain, and Turkey, against Russia. 
In the recent controversy, he gave his signature to the Andrassy 
note and the Berlin memorandum, but afterward, when Russia and 
Turkey went to war, committed his Government to a policy of un- 
conditioned neutrality. The visit made by Signor Crispi in the fall 
of 1877 to the continental courts was suppooed to be semi-official in 
its character, and to involve the presentation of the views of the 
King upon the Eastern as well as upon other questions ; but nothing 
is publicly known of its nature further than that Crispi proposed 
an enlargement of Greece and the formation of a Slavic con- 
federacy. King Humbert was trained in a period of iconoclastic 
revolution and of the advancement of liberal ideas. He is reo-arded 
as even more progressive and liberal than his father, whose reforms 
were so radical, vigorous, and bold as to astonish the whole Avorld. 
He is strongly attached by personal friendship to the Crown Prince 
of Germany, and his views and policy with reference to the affairs 
of the East may be in a considerable degree affected by his sym- 
pathy with Germany. In his address at the opening of the Italian 



502 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Parliament, Marcli Yth, he stated that lie had unhesitatingly assented 
to the Conference of the powers, desiring to secure a durable peace 
for Europe, and ex:[)ressed the belief that the impartiality of his 
government would give greater value to its counsels, while the re- 
cent history of the country would afford " a convincing argument 
for supporting the solutions most in conformity with justice and 
the rights of humanity." The views of King Humbert with regard 
to the final settlement are liable to be affected by the desires and 
movements of Austria. That Empire still possesses some Italian 
cities and provinces in which the Italian population is in the ma- 
jority or considerable. Humbert would therefore be disposed to 
join any anti- Austrian combination, or if any of the Turkish ter- 
ritory were annexed to that Empire, to demand compensation for 
Italy in the cession of some of the Italian possessions of Austria. 

The Chancellor of Russia, Prince Alexander Michailovitch Goit- 
chakoff, is universally recognized as one of the greatest statesmen of 
the nineteenth century. He was bom on July 16, 1798, and was 
appointed Russian Minister a few weeks before the conclusion of 
the Treaty of Paris, April 29, 1856. Both in point of age and of 
duration of office he excels all other statesmen in Europe. He is 
seventeen years older than Prince Bismarck, and twenty-five years 
older than Count Andrassy, aad was intrusted with the heavy re- 
sponsibility of steering the politics of one of the great world-empires 
six years before Bismarck, and fifteen years before Andrassy. Soon 
after entering upon his office, he defined his political programme 
by the celebrated word, La Russie se recueille^^ (Russia collects 
herself), and during twenty-one years he has aimed with singular 
steadiness of purpose at carrying through this programme, and at 
accomplishing the work in which his country had failed during the 
Crimean war. The chief features of this policy were the greatest 
possible reserve in all international complications and the introduc- 
tion of such reforms as would tend toward developing the immense 
resources of the Empire. Thus Russia is indebted to him for the 
long peace she has enjoyed since the Paris Treaty of 1856, and for 
reforms like the abolition of serfdom, two thorough reorganizations 
of the army, and the construction of an extensive railroad net. The 
abolition of serfdom in particular was not merely a philanthropic 
measure, but, by preparing a universal liabihty to mihtary ser^^ce, 
it was still more intended, by the sagacious statesman, as a means of 
strengthening the military power of the Empire. During the war 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



503 



between Austria and France, in 1859, Kussia observed a complete 
neutrality. She had no sympathy with either of the belligerent 
powers, one of which, France, had been, during the Crimean war, 
her open enemy, while tlie other had " surprised her by ingratitudes." 
A few years later Gortchakoff had an opportunity to give a con- 
spicuous proof of his statesmanship. Some of the European powers 
showed a disposition to meddle with the Pohsh question, and Austria, 
France, and England addressed identical notes to Russia. The answer 
of Gortchakoff to these notes was so firm and energetic that it put 
an immediate end to the diplomatic complications. Austria had 
even to bear with the blunt remark that it would do better to check 
the dangerous tendencies in its Polish provinces by measures ap- 
propriate both for its own interests and for its international relations. 
This defiaut attitude toward Austria was maintained for several 
years, and Gortchakoff, on one occasion, gave vent to his anti- 
Austrian feelings by the contemptuous remark : " Austria is not a 
State, it is only a Govermnent." On the other hand, Gortchakoff 
established the most intimate relations between Russia and Prussia. 
Though not taking an active part in the Franco-German war of 18Y0, 
the Russian Government made an unreserved display of its sympa- 
thy with Prussia, and thereby made it impossible for Austria to 
avail herself of the troubles of Prussia. This friendly relation con- 
tinued without the slightest disturbance until and through the great 
Eastern war, and proved of great advantage to Russia. Only four 
days after the capitulation of Metz, Gortchakoff wrote the celebrated 
cu'cular dispatch concerning the Pontus question, in which he in- 
formed the surprised statesmen of Europe that Russia could no 
longer abide by that article of the Paris Treaty which excluded the 
Russian flag from the Black Sea. The Cabinets of Vienna and Lon- 
don were very reluctant to consent to this unauthorized and one-sided 
repeal of an article of an international treaty; but France being 
powerless, and Germany on the side of Russia, they saw that further 
opposition on their part would be resultless, and yielded to the de- 
mand of Russia. In 18Y2, Gortchakoff differed from all the Euro- 
pean Courts by refusing to acknowledge the Spanish Government of 
Marshal Serrano, and the views expressed by him on the - probable 
short-livedhess of that Government were soon proved to be correct 
by the course of events. More recently he was reported to have 
said that he did not mean to be extinguished like a light. He has 
risked the boldest step of his long diplomatic career, and while the 



504 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



opinions of the civilized world on the justness of this step widely 
differ, the consummate skill with which it has been taken and car- 
ried through, has elicited admiration on all sides. The very numer- 
ous notes and circulars which have been issued by Prince Gortcha- 
koff during his long diplomatic career are counted among the most 
remarkable productions of modern diplomacy. One of the most 
notable documents, in a literary point of \'iew, is a letter addressed 
in 1876 to Count Shuvaloff, in which he ironically criticised the 
" political mythology " which still tries to palm off the " old woman's 
story " {vieillerie) of the testament of Peter the Great for authentic 
history. 

By far the ablest among the diplomatic agents of Russia at foreign 
Courts is General T^icholas Paulo vitch Ignatieff, the Russian Am- 
bassador at Constantinople from 1864 to the beginning of the Eastern 
war. He not only outshone in Constantinople all the Ambassadors 
of other powers, but he is undoubtedly one of the great diplomatists 
of the nineteenth century, and public opinion has long designated 
him as the only Rassian statesman who will be able to fill the place 
of the aged Gortchakoff when it shall become vacant. Ignatieff was 
born in 1832, and is descended from a family which belongs to the 
numerous lower nobility of Russia, and which has given to the State 
a number of high dignitaries. He was educated for the army at one 
of the military academies, and became a Colonel at the early age of 
twenty-four. While connected as a military attache with the Rus- 
sian embassies in London and Paris, he greatly distinguished himself 
at the conclusion of peace between Russia and the Western Powers. 
In recognition of these services, his Government appointed him in 
1858 Major-General. The signal success with which his first diplo- 
matic activity had met, induced him tb devote himself wholly to this 
career. He conceived the plan of enlarging the territory and con- 
solidating the power of Russia in Asia, while in European questions 
the programme of Gortchakoff to recover gradually and to wait was 
consistently carried out. The wonderful increase of the Russian 
dominions in Asia during the last twenty-five years is chiefly the 
work of Ignatieff. In 1858 a treaty was concluded between Russia 
and China, by which the Amoor country, a territory as large as Italy, 
and abounding in rich harbors, was ceded to Russia. At first the 
Governor of Eastern Siberia was credited with this remarkable feat 
of Russian strategy which surprised all Europe, but subsequently it 
became known that Ignatieff was the real author of it. After con- 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



eluding favorable commercial treaties with Bokhara and Khiva, Ig- 
natieff was, in 1859, appointed Kussian Ambassador in Peking, where 
during the four years of his stay he achieved wonders of diplomatic 
success. He inspired the Chinese with the belief that in Russia they 
would find a friend against England and France, and while the two 
latter powers extorted, by a bloody and expensive war, some com- 
mercial advantages, Ignatieff obtained the cession of a large territory 
of the extent of France, and the right of free trade along the entire 
frontier. The Chinese ambassadorship was, however, regarded by 
him as a stepping-stone for the great mission of his life, and to that 
end he acquired so perfect a knowledge of the Turkish language 
that subsequently at Constantinople he was the only one among the 
foreign ambassadors who could treat with the Sultan without any 
interpreter. During the Polish insurrection he was, for a short time, 
recalled to assist Prince Gortchakoff with his advice, being appointed 
at the same time Adjutant-General of the Emperor, and Director of 
the Asiatic Department in St. Petersburg. On July 26, 1864, Ig- 
natieff was appointed Extraordinary Ambassador and Minister Pleni- 
potentiary at Constantinople. His labors in this position fill some 
of the most interesting pages of the history of the last decade. He 
knew how to make Russia dreaded by all Turkish statesmen, som e 
of whom even became his pliant tools. By showing an outspoken 
sympathy with the Pan-Slavist movement, he gradually accustomed 
the Slavic Christians of Turkey, the Turks, and the whole of Europe, 
to regard Russia in the light of a natural protector of the Slavs of 
Turkey. When he entered upon his ofiice in Constantinople, Turkey 
appeared to be gaining slowly, but steadily, in strength. When the 
war was declared in 18T7, it was said, with much truth, that by the 
machinations of Ignatieff the Turkish Empire had been undermined. 
He is described as being about the middle height, thin in person, 
with the strongly-marked Slavonic type of thick lips, broad face, 
long, thin mustache, and small, piercing gray eyes, through which, 
at times, passes a glare of ferocity. His wife takes a very active 
part in her husband's afi*airs, and it is said that not only no dispatches 
ever left Constantinople for St. Petersburg without first having 
been submitted to her approval, but that she has been the initiator 
of many of the General's most successful political inspirations. 

^Text to Gortchakoff and Ignatieff, Count Peter Andreyevitch 
Shuvaloff is regarded as the most noted Russian diplomatist. He 
is the scion of one of the oldest and most celebrated families of Rus- 



5o6 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



sian nobility, and was born in 1828 at St. Petersburg, where his 
father was administrator of the Imperial palaces. Like Ignatieff, 
he received a military education, and was rapidly prorooted to the 
highest rank, though, like Ignatieff, he never took an active part in 
any Russian campaign. In his early life he had little practical 
experience in diplomacy, as he was only for some time connected as 
military attache to the Russian Embassy in Paris. In 1865, he was 
appointed Governor-General of the Baltic provinces. One year 
later, a plot against the life of the Czar, which the chief of the secret 
police was unable to discover, led to the elevation of Count Shu- 
valoff to this oflSce, for which, on a former occasion, he had shown 
a special aptitude. He had scarcely been twenty-four hours in 
office, when he had fully cleared up the mystery of the plot, and 
found 'out that the perpetrator of the attempt was not, as had at 
first been believed, a Pole, but an adherent of the sect of Russian 
socialists which is known by the name of Nihilists. For eight 
years he remained at the head of this very influential, but also very 
burdensome office, and so great was the power wielded by him that 
the people gave him the nickname of Peter lY. When, finally, 
regard for his health compelled him, in 1873, to resign, he was 
intrusted with an extraordinary diplomatic mission to the English 
Court. He was instructed to calm the excitement of the English 
over the advance of the Russians in Central Asia. He was sup- 
posed to be specially fitted for this mission, as, in direct opposition 
to Ignatieff, he was regarded as a decided adherent of a peace 
policy and of the development of the resources of the Empire, and 
as unfavorable to the acquisition of any new territories. He had 
never manifested any sympathy with the Pan-Slavists, but was 
looked upon as their opponent. By promising, in the name of Rus- 
sia, that Russian troops would not advance beyond the Oxus, and 
that Afghanistan would be respected as inviolable territory, he suc- 
ceeded in re-establishing friendly relations between Russia and 
England. In order to strengthen the good understanding between 
the two Courts, he brought about a marriage between Maria, the 
only daughter of the Russian Emperor, and the second son of Queen 
Victoria, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, and heir-apparent to the Ger- 
man Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The Czar rewarded these serv- 
ices by appointing Shuvaloff, in October, 1871, as Envoy at the 
British Court, in the place of the aged Brunnow, who retired. 
Since the beginning of the present complications in the East, he has 




BISMARCK. 




DISRAELI. 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 509 

been less successful. Diplomatic marriages have generally proved 
to ha\^e little or no influence on the policy of tlie great European 
Court, and the one between the Duke of Edinburgh and the Eus- 
sian Grand Duchess proved do exception. The Tory Cabinet openly 
took sides with the Turks, and all that Shuvaloff could hope to 
accomplish was to prevent English sympathy with Turkey from 
drifting into an open w^^r wdtli Russia. Like few Russian states- 
men, Count Shuvaloff enjoys the special confidence of the Czar, a 
signal proof of which was given to him when he was instructed 
to solve the mcsallianGe between the Grand Duke Alexis and Miss 
Shukoosky. 

Prince Carl Otto Yon Bismarck-Schoenhausen, the Chancellor of 
the German Empire, has won the reputation of being the ablest of 
living statesmen. His astuteness and obstinacy, complementing the 
patriotic ambition of his master, the Emperor William, have con- 
tributed much to the success which has attended the scheme for 
uniting and establishing the power of the German Empire. He has 
represented his nation in the principal negotiations which have 
taken place in relation to the war, with the same skill and ability 
which he has exhibited in other fields of political and diplomatic 
activity. His movements and utterances have been anxiously 
watched by all the other parties interested in the struggle, both 
because they were those of the one statesman who thoroughly 
understood himself and his policy, and because they were supposed 
to indicate the designs of that power which could at any time turn 
the balance of the scale. 

Count Julius x\ndrassy. Chancellor of the Austrian Empire, is a 
Hungarian, the son of the distinguished scientific and social econo- 
mist. Count Charles Andrassy. He entered public life as a member 
of the Diet from his native to^vn in 1847 ; gave all his influence to 
the Hungarian revolution in 1818 ; was an agent for the revolution- 
ists to the Porte in 1819 ; and was in exile in France and England 
after the defeat of the revolution until he was enabled, by the 
amnesty of 1857, to return to his native country. He was elected 
to the Hungarian Diet in 1860 ; on the reorganization of the Aus- 
trian Empire, in 1867, he was appointed Prime Minister of Hun- 
gary, and w^as unanimously elected from Pesth to the Hungarian 
Chamber of Representatives in 1S69. He succeeded Count Yon 
Beust — the ablest Minister Austria has had since Metternich — as 

Minister of Foreign Aflairs in 1871. He has had a prominent 
27 



510 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



share in ail the negotiations which have taken place respecting 
Eastern affairs, and has had his name inseparably associated with 
them through the authorship of the famous "Andrassy l^ote" of 
1875, which first combined, in a single paper, a formal statement 
of the grievances of the Christian populations of European Turkey, 
with the united demand of the powers that effectual measures be 
taken to redress them. His position during 1877 was one of great 
delicacy, but he conducted himself with much skill under the pres- 
sure of discordant counsels, preserved the neutrality of the Empire, 
maintained its honor, and escaped reproach. 

Earl Beaconsfield, the Premier of the British Cabinet, was born 
Benjamin Disraeli in 1805. He acquired distinction as an author at 
an early age. He was lirst elected to the House of Commons in 
1841 ; was Chancellor of the Exchequer under three administra- 
tions of the late Lord Derby, and was Premier during 1868. He 
was again appointed Premier on the final resignation of Mr. Glad- 
stone in 1871, and has continued in that position to the present time. 
His wife was made Viscountess of Beaconsfield in 1868, and he 
himself was made Earl Beaconsfield in 1876. His course in the dis- 
cussions of the Eastern Question has been signalized by a strong 
partisanship for the Turks, and has invoked the bitter criticisms of 
the Liberal party. The fact that he is of Jewish origin, has been 
used by the more extreme Liberal partisans as the basis of insinua- 
tions that his policy has been governed by a stronger regard for the 
welfare of the Jews than of the Christians. 

Earl Derby, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, was 
born in 1826, and was first elected to the House of Commons in 
1848, shortly after his graduation from Trinity College, Cambridge. 
He had an honorable career in the House of Commons and in several 
public offices, in which he was known as Mr. Henry Stanley, till he 
succeeded to the Earldom of Derby in 1869. In 1874, Mr. Disraeli 
made him Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. In this capacity, 
he has had charge of the diplomatic correspondence with foreign 
Governments, and his name has been frequently mentioned and ap- 
pealed to in the discussion of British interests. He has steadfastly 
upheld the attitude of neutrality which was assumed by his Govern- 
ment at the beginning of the war, and has been regarded as a mod- 
erate, but not positive friend of Turkey, He has headed the party 
in the Cabinet which has opposed and counteracted the tendency of 
the Premier to commit the country to some, embarrassing position. 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 511 

As is generally the case witli men who stand between two opposite 
factions, his course has not given satisfaction to either party. He 
has gained great literary distinction by his most successful translation 
of Homer. 

The Right Honorable Austin Henry Layard, British Minister to 
the Sublime Porte, was born in 1817. Yielding to scholarly tastes, 
he started on an extensive course of travels in 1839, embracing, 
among other countries, a large part of the Turkish Empire, and 
studied the Arabic and Persian languages. He gained much distinc- 
tion by his excavations and discoveries among the ruins of JSTineveh, 
which were begun in 1845, and by his efforts to introduce the results 
of Assyrian studies to the public. He has filled various diplomatic 
stations connected with Eastern politics, and as a member of Parlia- 
ment has given much attention to questions of a similar character. 
He was a close observer on the field of the Crimean war, and after- 
ward spent some time in India during the mutiny of 1857-'58, 
endeavoring to ascertain its cause. He was a member of Mr. Glad- 
stone's Cabinet for about a year, after which he was appointed Min- 
ister to Spain in 1869. He succeeded Sir Henry Elliot as Ambas- 
sador to the Sublime Porte at the beginning of 18YY. His 
correspondence with his Government shows him to be strongly 
Turkish in his sympathies. 

Lord Augustus Loftus, British Minister at St. Petersburg, was 
born in 1817, and has been employed in the diplomatic service of 
his Government since 1837. He was appointed to the Court of St. 
Petersburg in 1871. 

Sir Henry Elliot, late British Ambassador to the Sublime Porte, 
was born in 1817, and has been engaged in the service of the 
Foreign Office since 1840. He was appointed Ambassador to 
Turkey in 1867, and retired from that office soon after the Confer- 
ence of December, 1876. 

The greatest among the living statesmen of Turkey is undoubt- 
edh^ Midhat Pasha, the father of the new Turkish Constitution. 
He was born in 1822, at Constantinople, where his father was a 
kadi. His employment in the public service began at the early age 
of twelve ; and when only nineteen years old he accompanied Faik 
Eflendi to Syria as his secretary. After occupying, in succession, a 
number of dilFerent positions, he was sent during the Crimean war 
to put down brigandage on the eastern coast of Rumania, an eiTand 
wliich he accomplished with complete success. A like success at- 



512 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



tended him in 185 when he was sent to pacify Bulgaria, and to 
inquire into the conduct of the ex-governors of Rustchuk and Widin. 
He afterward obtained a short leave of absence, during which he 
visited London, Pai-is, and the other capitals of Europe, and made 
himself thoroughly famihar with the institutions and civilization of 
some of the leading ^European States. In 1860 he was made a 
Pasha, with the rank of a Yizier, being named Governor of Nissa, 
to which were subsequently added the districts of TJskub and Pris- 
rend. In 1865 he was appointed Governor-General of the eyalet 
of the Danube (Bulgaria), and in 1869 Governor-General of the 
eyalet of Bagdad. He subsequently became a member and Presi- 
dent of the Council of Justice, and was for a short time Grand 
Yizier. On his resumption of the Presidency of the Council, he 
brought about the dethronement of Abdul Aziz, and shortly after- 
ward escaped from the assassin of Hussein Avni Pasha. Midhat 
Pasha remained President of the Council of State during the reign 
of Murad Y., and retained this position after the fall of Murad, 
during the first months of the reign of the present Sultan, Abdul 
Hamid. On June 1, 1876, Midhat published the draft of a Consti- 
tution which he proposed to introduce as the fundamental law of the 
Empire. This document produced a great sensation throughout 
Europe, and Midhat prides himself upon it as the great achieve- 
ment of his eventful life. He had been known in Constantinople 
for five or six years as the advocate of a constitutional form of gov- 
ernment, and his position on this subject had been several times the 
cause of his fall. When finally the approval of the plan by Abdul 
Hamid had been secured, the promulgation itself was postponed by 
the Servian war. After Midhat Pasha, on Dec. 21, 1876, had again 
become Grand Yizier, he hastened to promulgate the Constitution 
on Dec. 23d, as an offset against the demands of the Constantinople 
Conference, which he was unwilling to accept. The character of 
Midhat was a guarantee to his own counti'ymen and to the civilized 
world, that the Constitution was not intended by him as a blind for 
misleading the European statesmen, who were unanimous in de- 
manding a reform of the Turkish administration, but as the real 
beginning of a new era in Turkish history. He began to carry out 
its principles with unflinching energy. His orders had a military 
ring. They never contained the time-honored phrase, ''And may 
God's grace incline j^our heart to obey this order,'' but by shar]:), 
clear commands he endeavored to convince the officials that he was 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



in earnest in demanding prompt obedience. A clerk in tlie Porte 
who did not know how to write, and who had obtained a $2,000 
clerkship for presenting a pretty Circassian slave to a former minis- 
ter, was summarily dismissed. Midhat showed the same firmness 
in his relations to the Sultan. Abdul Hamid wished to overdraw 
his allowance, and the Minister of Finance, Galib Pasha, hesitated, 
but Midhat resolutely declared that the Sultan must observe the 
new laws and keep his finances within the prescribed limits, and 
when Galib Pasha, nevertheless, yielded to repeated demands, and 
sent the Sultan several millions of dollars, he was immediately re- 
moved from his office by Midhat. This firmness soon led to the fall 
of the Grand Yizier. The Sultan, who, like so many of his prede- 
cessors, showed a greater concern about his private finances than 
about the dangerous crisis of the Empire, listened to the insinua- 
tions of his brother-in-law, Mahmond Damad Pasha, who hated 
Midhat from simple jealousy, and succeeded in creating a jealousy 
toward him in the mind of the Sultan. On February 5th the great 
statesman was summoned into the presence of the Sultan to be de- 
posed. The circumstances attending the fall of Midhat are a curious 
illustration of the rottenness of Turkish administration. A steamer 
was in waiting with steam up, and Midhat Pasha had hardly arrived 
at the palace when soldiers appeared, and he was rather ostenta- 
tiously arrested and sent out to the steamer without being allowed 
to go to his house again. Even the money necessary to defray his 
expenses on landing in Italy was given to him at the palace, because 
he insisted on returning to his house for a little pocket-money. Be- 
fore it was known among the people that Midhat Pasha had fallen, 
the steamer which took him to Brindisi was already out at sea. In 
England, where Midhat took up his residence, he received marked 
proofs of esteem. He observed great reserve in his remarks on the 
condition of Turkey, but expressed his firm conviction that already 
a national sentiment was showing itself in which Christians and 
Jews, as well as Mohammedans, took part. The greatness of the 
loss which Turkey suffered by his exile has been forcibly demon- 
strated by the disgraceful inefficiency of the Turkish Government 
during the war. All classes of the population became more and 
more impatient in the demand for his return, and no doubt was enter- 
tained that the Sultan would find himself compelled by the pressure 
of the people to recall the exiled statesman, who was now regarded 
as the only man who could save the country. 



514 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



Midliat Paslia is the chief representative of the so-called Young 
Turkish party, which, while anxions to preserve the integrity of the 
Ottoman Empire, desires to regenerate it by introducing the insti- 
tutions of Western Europe. While Grand Yizier, he earnestly en- 
joined upon the governments of the provinces to promote a good 
understanding between the different religions and races, and was 
indefatigable in encouraging every germ of progress, whether among 
Mohammedans or among Christians. For counteracting and thwart- 
ing the machinations of Ignatieff, he may be said to have done more 
than all the other Turkish statesmen together. Among the many 
examples which are related of the energy he displayed in this respect, 
an incident in his administration of Bulgaria is of special interest. 
Having carefully watched the secret movements of the Pan-Slavists 
in Bulgaria, he had several of the chief agitators, whom he thought 
to be Russian emissaries, arrested. Ignatieff at once interceded in 
behalf of the prisoners, and the timid Grand Yizier of that time, 
Ali Pasha, instructed Midhat by telegraph not to proceed any 
further against them, but to send a full report of their case to Con- 
stantinople. Midhat laconically replied by telegraph, To-day, two 
culprits convicted, sentenced, and executed. Peport will be sent." 
The threatening remonstrances of Ignatieff induced the Grand 
Yizier to send a second more urgent telegram, to which Midhat, 
with undisturbed laconism, replied : " Two other culprits sentenced 
and executed. Report follows by mail." Frightened at the rage 
of Ignatieff, Ali Pasha telegraphed to Midhat, " I forbid you to 
take any other step, upon penalty of deposition and severe punish- 
ment. I expect telegraphic report." To which Midhat replied, 
" Report sent by courier ; the explanation will be found satisfactory. 
Quiet has been restored. The four last culprits will be executed 
immediately." During its whole history, the Turkish Empire has 
had few, if any, statesmen so enlightened and so energetic as Midhat 
Pasha ; but the number of his intelligent followers among the Young 
Turks has been small. Midhat Pasha converses fluently in French, 
but does not speak English at all. He is of middle height ; his short 
beard and whiskers are quite gray, although he is only fifty -five years 
of age. He dresses in the European style, except that he wears a 
red fez. He impresses those with whom he converses as an eager 
and active man, full of good humor, but as a man also of the most 
determined resolution. 

Edhem Pasha, who, in February, 1877, succeeded Midhat Pasha 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



as Grand Yizier, is less known tban his predecessor. He was born 
in 1823 at Cliio, of Circassian parents. Wliile still a boy he was 
sold as a slave to the well-known Turkish statesman, Khosrev 
Pasha, in whose house at Constantinople he for some time per- 
formed servile duties. His master, who soon perceived the extra- 
ordinary ability of his young slave, not only gave him his liberty, 
but sent him, together with four other Circassian boys, to be edu- 
cated in Paris. Here he remained at school from 1832 to 1835, 
and then at the request of his patron, studied mining for four years, 
during which period he traveled in France, Germany, and Switzer- 
land. He returned to Constantinople in 1839, and was at once 
appointed a captain on the general staff. In this capacity he was 
chiefly employed in topographical work, and showed such skill that 
he was rapidly advanced to the rank of colonel. In 1849, he was 
appointed aide-de-camp to the Sultan, and after being promoted to 
the rank of general, he successively became chamberlain of the Sul- 
tan's palace and member of the Council of State. After the dis- 
missal of Ali Pasha, Edhem became Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
and he subsequently represented his country at various European 
Courts, including that of Berlin, whence he was called at the close 
of 18Y6 to take the post of second Plenipotentiary of the Porte at 
the Conference. While chamberlain of the Sultan's palace, Edhem 
instructed Abdul Medjid in the French language, and became the 
tutor of the Sultan's children, in particular of Murad and Abdul 
Hamid. Like Midhat, he is an outspoken opponent of the Pussian 
claims, but at the same time he is represented as a stauncher advo- 
cate of all the Mohammedan interests. 

Savfet Pasha, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was born in 1816. 
He belongs to the oldest school of Turkish statesmen. He was in- 
troduced into the diplomatic career by Ali Pasha, and became the 
friend of Reshid and Fuad Pashas. He entered the service of the 
Government at an early age, and was at first employed as a trans- 
lator. Subsequently he was for some time translator of the Sultan 
Abdul Medjid, and later he was an influential member of the Couur- 
cil of the Empire. During the Crimean war he was commissary of 
;he Danubian principalities, and in 1858 he presided over the com^. 
nission which had to revise the affairs of Moldavia and Wallachia. 
In 1865 and 1866, Savfet represented the Sublime Porte at the- 
Court of the Tuileries, where he was held in high esteem. After- 
his return from Paris, he became in succession Minister of Cora- 



5i6 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



merce and Public; "Works, Minister of Justice, Minister of Public 
Instruction, and several times Minister of Foreign Affaii's. He 
specially distinguished himself as a Minister of Public Instruction 
by founding the lyceum of Galata Serai, the university and the 
archaeological museum of Constantinople, and a number of gratuitous 
schools in the capital as well as in the provinces. As Turkish 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, he had to preside over the International 
Conference of Constantinople, which met in December, 1876, for 
the purpose of finding, if possible, a peaceable solution of the Eastern 
Question. Upon him also devolved the more difficult task of de- 
clining, in the name of the Porte, nearly all the propositions 
emanating from the Conference as irreconcilable with the dignity 
of the country. The circular by which Savfet Pasha, in February, 
187Y, communicated to the diplomatic agents of Turkey the news 
of the proclamation of the new Turkish Constitution, produced con- 
siderable sensation. While in this remarkable document he laid, 
on the one hand, great stress upon the active part which the Sheik- 
ul-Islam himself had taken in drawing up the Constitution, he 
called, on the other hand, attention to the fact that the new Constitu- 
tion was based upon the principles of freedom and equality that are 
found in the most liberal constitutions of Europe, and that it could 
therefore be expected to satisfy fully the wants of those provinces 
which had of late attracted the special attention of Europe. 

Aarifi Pasha, who succeeded Savfet Pasha as Turkish Minister 
of Foreign Affairs in July, 1877, is a fine scholar, being acquainted 
with the French and German languages, and is considered an able 
statesman. He was interpreter to the late Sultan Abdul Medjid ; 
was appointed Ambassador to Austria in 1872 ; was recalled in 1873 ; 
was made Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1874, and Minister of 
Education and Justice in 1876 ; was again appointed Ambassador to 
Yienna in 1877, but was recalled in July of that year to succeed 
Savfet Pasha as Minister of Foreign Affairs, but was himseK re- 
moved within ten days. He gained a literary reputation by trans- 
lating Michaud's History of the Crusades." 

Server Pasha, one of the negotiators of the Treaty of Peace, has 
had considerable experience in public affau's, and especially in the 
Foreign department, of which he was Under-Secretary of State 
during the last years of Ali Pasha's life. Upon the latter's death, 
Server became Foreign Minister in Mahmoud IS'edim's first cabinet, 
and subsequently went as Ambassador to Paris. In the last days 




SAVFET PASHA. 




A TURKISH SOLDIER PRAYING BY THE GRAVE OF A COMRADE. 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



of July, 187Y, he succeeded Aarili Pasha as Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, and in Jannary, 18 Y8, was sent to the Kussian headquarters 
to negotiate the Treaty of Peace. 

Hussein Avni Pasha, who, with Midhat Pasha, took a leading 
part in the dethronement of Abdul Aziz and the elevation to the 
throne of Murad Y., was born in 1819 in the sanjak of Sparta. 
He was graduated from the military school in Constantinople in 
1812, distinguished himself in the Crimean war, and was, in 1856, 
the Turkish delegate to the commission which was appointed to 
regulate the Persian frontier. Soon after, he was appointed director 
of the military school of Constantinople, and chief of the general 
staff of the army. In the war with Montenegro he was commander 
of a division, and after the insurrection in Candia he was appointed 
to the chief command of the Turkish troops in that island. He 
early gained the entire confidence of the two great statesmen who 
directed the affairs of the Empire during the first years of the reign 
of Abdul Aziz, Fuad Pasha and Ali Pasha — especially of the 
former. In 1869, he was appointed Minister of War, which posi- 
tion he held until the death of Ali Pasha, in 1871, when he was 
removed by Mahmoud !Nedim Pasha, the new Grand Yizier, who 
even sent him into exile on a charge of misappropriation of public 
moneys. "When Midhat Pasha became Grand Yizier, in 18Y2, he 
was permitted to return, and, under Essad Pasha, he became Minis- 
ter of the ]^avy, and afterward of War. In 1874, he reached the 
goal of his ambition, the Grand Yizierate, but in this position he 
was unsuccessful, and when he was dismissed, in 1875, the Empire 
was in a much more wretched condition than when he entered upon 
his office. The position of a Governor- General of Smyrna, to 
which he was appointed, he soon resigned, in order to visit France 
and England. In July, 1875, he was called back to Constantinople, 
as the Grand Yizier, Essad Pasha, had urged upon the Sultan the 
necessity of calling the ablest statesman of the Empire into the 
Ministry. Soon after his arrival, in August, the new Ministry was 
formed, under Mahmoud ISTedim Pasha. Hussein received the De- 
partment of War, while his enemy, Midhat Pasha, became Min- 
ister of Justice. In consequence of an irreconcilable difference 
of opinion between him and the Grand Yizier, as to the policy to 
be pursued, he was removed from his seat in the Cabinet in Octo- 
ber, 1875, and appointed Governor-General of Brussa. The over- 
throw of the administration of Mahmoud !N'edim Pasha, on May 1 Ith, 



520 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



and the appointment of Mchemed Eushdi as Grand Yizier, led to 
his reappointment as Seraskier, or Minister of War. In order to 
secure his reappointment, he found it necessary to ally himself with 
the party of the Young Turkey, though he had never S}'mpathized 
with them before. The affiliation with this party also compelled 
him, after becoming Minister of War, to take part in the movement 
for dethroning Abdul Aziz, although the chief leader of this move- 
ment was his great enemy, Midhat Pasha. He was even the prin- 
cipal actor in the proclamation of Murad Y., the new Sultan. As 
he was known to be decidedly opposed to Midhat's plan to give 
to Turkey a Constitution, the breach between the two statesmen 
would undoubtedly soon have widened; but only a few weeks 
after the dethronement of Abdul Aziz, Hussein was assassinated by 
Hassan Eey, the adjutant of the oldest son of Abdul Aziz. 

Eedif Pasha, the Turkish Minister of War in 1877, was long 
commander of the Sixth corps, and subsequently became chief of 
the Imperial Guard of Constantinople. He distinguished himself 
in the Syria campaigns, and gained the reputation of being, next to 
Abdul Kerim, one of the ablest generals of the Turkish aiTuy. 
When it was deemed necessary that Abdul Kerim, who had been 
designated to be the successor of the assassinated Hussein Avni 
Pasha as Minister of War, should go to the front, and assume the 
chief command of the European army, Eedif Pasha was selected as 
his successor in the Cabinet. 

Mahmoud Damad Pasha, Palace-Marshal, and a brother-in-law of 
the Sultan, is best known as the person who brought about the fall 
of Midhat Pasha. This he did by creating a jealousy in the mind 
of the Sultan, to whom he has constant access, against his Minister. 
He is a son of Fethi Ahmed Pasha, who was a brother-in-law of 
the Sultan Abdul Medjid, and director of the Artillery and Fortifi- 
cation Bureau. He was for several 3'ears President of a section of 
the State Council, and was in 1872 appointed to the Ministry of 
Commerce, an office in which he proved so incapable, and blun- 
dered so much, as to bring down all the foreign ambassadors against 
him, and caused the Eussian Embassy to declare that Eussia would 
not regard the Turkish trade laws so long as the administration 
of them was in his hands. He was removed from this office, but 
was reappointed to it in 1875, and again in 1876, by Sultan Murad 
Y. Sultan Abdul Hamid — whoee sister, the Princess Jemile, he 
married in 1858 — appointed him to the same office in the artillery 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST 



521 



department which his father held. His peculiar relationship with 
the Sultan, combined with his capacities for intrigue, has given him 
a position of great influence at the Court, and he has been regarded 
as the real director of the affairs of the Turkish Empire, so far as 
thej were directed from the capital, during 1877. 

The President of the first Turkish Chamber of Deputies, Ahmed 
Yetik Pasha, is regarded as the greatest Turkish scholar of the 
present time. There are few names more popularly known in Con- 
stantinople than that of the ^' Recluse of the Hissar," as he has been 
called, and there is no official man in Turkey who has been more 
often and longer in disgrace. In turns Ambassador in Persia, mem- 
ber of Council of State, Minister of Public Instruction, Ambassador 
in Paris, and again member of the Council of State, and more than 
once candidate for the office of Grand Yizier, he has always ended 
by going back to his Yali in Hissar, to dig and plant in his garden 
on the hill-side, and to indulge in his taste for reading and study. 
His friends and the popular voice attribute his ill success to his in- 
tegrity. His adversaries complain of him as an intractable, quarrel- 
some man, and as an enthusiast, sincere, but quite impracticable. 
But there is no difference between friends and adversaries in recoo:- 
nizing the purity of his character and the grasp of his mind. He 
has always been known as an uncompromising adversary of foreign 
interference, for which he was erroneously set down as a fanatical 
" Old Turk." Ahmed Yefik Pasha speaks and writes English and 
French with facility, has considerable acquaintance with the classics, 
and is well versed in many branches of science. His high principle 
and unbending character have gained him much respect among his 
countrymen, and his love of justice has passed into a proverb. Among 
his writings is a translation into Turkish of Moliere's plays. He was 
also among the representatives of Turkey at the Orientalists Con- 
gress at St. Petersburg. 

Ohannes Tchamith Effendi, who, in February, 1877, was appointed 
Minister of Commerce and Agriculture, belongs to one of the most 
respected of the Aimeno-Catholic families of Constantinople. He is 
considered one of the most capable and industrious of the public func- 
tionaries of the Porte. He speaks and writes French with remark- 
able facility, has some reputation as a historian and political econo- 
mist, and has published a book in the Turkish language on logic. 

The history of the last great wars in Europe has called the atten- 
tion of the world to an appreciation of the importance which ingeni- 



522 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



ous plans of a campaign has for tlie issue of the war. As these plans 
are the work of the staff, the heavy responsibility of the chiefs of 
the staff and the great part they have in the results of the war, conies 
to be better understood. The chief of the Russian army on the 
Danube, Arthur Adamovitch E'epokoitchitzky, is looked upon as one 
of the most gifted Russian generals now living, and sometimes even 
been designated by his admirers as the Russian Moltke. He was bom 
on Dec. 8, 1813, and is the son of a marshal of the nobility in the Gov- 
ernment of Minsk. He began his military career in 1832 as officer 
in a body-guard regiment. The first campaigns in which he took 
part were those against the people of the Caucasus, in which he 
greatly distinguished himself, and won the special favor of the Czar. 
When the Russians, in 1849, invaded Hungary, he was appoiilted 
General, and justified the great expectations which were entertained 
with regard to him, by the occupation of Kronstadt and Hermann- 
stadt and the great victory of Temesvar, which was followed by the 
entire submission of the Magyars. During the war between the Rus- 
sians and the Turks in 1853, and in the following years, he not only 
sustained his military reputation, but greatly added to it by many 
brilliant exploits. His name is honorably connected with the passage 
of the Pruth by the Russian troops, with the advance of the Russians 
against the Turkish fortifications on the Danube, near Braila, with 
the capture of the town of Matchin, and with the siege of Silistria, 
when Nepokoitchitzky, while reconnoitering in the neighborhood of 
the fortress, repulsed a desperate sortie of the Turks. Subsequently 
he fought in the Crimea against the allied armies of England, France, 
and Turkey. In 1859 he was appointed President of the War Codi- 
fication Committee, and in 1868 he was promoted to the rank of 
General of the Infantry. 

Todleben, General Franz Eduard, Chief of the Russian Engineer 
Corps, and one of the most distinguished engineers in the world, was 
born in 1818, at Mitau, and entered the engineer corps in 1838. 
He gained the distinction which he deservedly enjoys by the plan- 
ning and construction of the fortifications of Sebastopol, which he 
made confessedly one of the strongest fortresses in the world. The 
length and determination of the resistance which the Russians were 
enabled to offer from this position to the assaults and siege attacks 
of the allied forces engaged against them in the Crimean war, were 
made possible by the sufficiency and excellence of the works which 
lie built. Since 1860, he has held the position of technical aide to 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST 



523 



the Grand Duke Nicholas. His principal services in the present 
war were rendered in connection with the plannins^ and execution 
of the siege works around Plevna. 

Kadetzky, General Feodor Feodorovitch, commander of the main 
division of the Russian army of the Danube, was born in July, 1820, 
at Kazan, of a family who are distantly related to the Austrian 
Marshal Radetzky. Having completed his studies at the Engineers' 
and General Staff Academies, he was assigned to a command of en- 
gineers at Warsaw in 1839, and afterward in Grusia. The greater 
part of his military life has been spent in the Caucasus, where he 
distinguished himself in several brilliant actions and successful cam- 
paigns. He was appointed a Major-General in 1860, and a Lieuten- 
ant-General in 1868. In 18Y6 he was appointed to the command 
of the Eighth army corps, with which he effected the crossing of the 
Danube at Simnitza, in June, 18TY, five days after Zimmermann had 
crossed the same river at Braila, and participated with great credit 
in the battles of the Shipka Pass. 

Zimmermann, General Apollo Ernestovitch, the commander of the 
corps of the Lower Danube, or the " Dobrudja Corps," at the begin- 
ning of the war, is of German descent, and was born in Livonia in 
1825. He first entered the military service of the King of Wiirtem- 
berg. Having finished his studies at the Military Academy, he was 
attached to the Russian General Staff, and was assigned to duty in 
the Governments of Archangel and Olonitz. He took active part in 
the Hungarian campaign of 1849, and served in the Caucasus from 
1851 to 1854, where he was promoted to be a Lieutenant-Colonel. 
In the Crimean war, he had, at first, the command of one of the 
corps which were operating in Asia, was called to the Crimea at a 
later period, where he was attached to the garrison of Sebastopol till 
that post was captured, and was wounded during the bombardment. 
In 1860, having become a Colonel, he participated in the campaign 
against Khokand, and was made a Major-General. He took part in 
the suppression of the Polish insurrection in 1862, and was made a 
Lieutenant-General in 1868, and was assigned the command of the 
corps with which he effected the crossing of the Danube at Braila 
in the night of the 21st and 22d of June, it being the first division 
of the Russian army which entered the European territory of 
Turkey. 

Kriidener, General Baron N^ieholas Paulovitch, " the hero of Kic- 
opolis," as he was called early in the war, is the oldest of the Russians 



524 THE WAR IN THE EAST, 

in the field. He was "bom in 1811 in Esthonia. Having studied in 
the School of Engineers and the Imperial Military Academy, he 
entered the General Staff in 1836. He was made a Major-General 
in 1859, and as commander of the Yolhynian Life Guards, he took 
part in the suppression of the Pohsh insurrection of 1862. He was 
appointed in 18Y6 to the command of the corps which he led in the 
war of 18Y7. Success attended him at the beginning of the war. 
His capture of Mcopolis on the 15th of July, with 6,000 men and 
two Pashas as prisoners, was a brilliant achievement, and brought 
him praise ; but the fame he thus gained was dissipated by the dis- 
aster which he suffered at the second battle of Plevna, on the 30th 
of July, when he was driven back with the loss of Y,000 men. He 
afterward excused himseK for his failure by showing that he had 
made the attack under the express orders of the Commander-in- 
chief. He said that he had estimated the forces of Osman Pasha at 
50,000 men, and had so reported it to headquarters, but was told 
that the Turks had only 27,000 men, and ordered to go on and 
attack the position. The result was what he had foreseen and tried 
to avoid. 

Gourko, General Joseph Yladimirovitch, the daring Russian cav- 
alry chief, was born of an old Russian family in November, 1828. 
He was appointed a cornet in the Life Guard-Hussars in 1846, after- 
ward went through the course of the School of the General Staff, 
and was appointed a Captain in 1852 in a regiment with which he 
seiwed through the whole Crimean war. He was promoted in suc- 
cession to be Captain of Horse, Commander of the Imperial Squadron 
in the regiment of the Czar, in 1860 Wing-Adjutant of the Czar, and 
in 1861 Colonel. In 1862 he was appointed a member of the com- 
mission on the emancipation of the serfs, a cause which he actively 
promoted. He was advanced to the rank of Lieutenant-General, and 
made commander of the Second division of the cavalry-guard in 1876. 
He engaged in the campaign in Bulgaria in advance of his division, 
having been placed at the head of an " advance-guard corps," whose 
duty it was to press forward before the army, without regard to the 
operations of the main force, as far and as fast as possible, and spread 
alarai through the Turkish population. He performed this duty 
with great energy. On the 27th of June he was still on the Danube ; 
ten days later he had captured Tirnova, the old capital of Bulgaria, 
and found the way open to the Balkans ; on the 14th of July he had, 
to the surprise of all who were observing the movements of the war, 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



passed the Balkaos, accomplishing in one week what former Gener- 
als had thought themselves entitled to credit for doing in two years. 
He continued to advance into the heart of the mountain region, with 
wonderful moral effect upon Europe and Turkey, till the exigencies 
of the Russian army compelled his recall. His special corps was dis- 
solved, and he returned to his old command to get it in readiness to 
take part in the ensuing campaigns. For his services in penetrating 
the Balkans, he was made an Adjutant-General. Gen. Gourko's repu- 
tation increased as the war advanced, and when it closed, it was con- 
sidered that he had shown himself the bravest and most skillful of 
all the Russian generals. 

Skobeleff, Michael Demetrivitch, although an officer of most dis- 
tinguished service, is the youngest General, not only in the Russian, 
but also of all the European armies, having been born in 1845, and 
being now consequently only thirty-two years of age. He became 
an officer in the Russian army in 1863, and ha» performed his prin- 
cipal services in Central Asia. He w^as the most active and efficient 
leader in the campaign against the Khanate of Khokand, which re- 
sulted in the conquest of the country in 1875, and its annexation to 
the Russian Empire. He received the appointment of a General in 
recompense for services in this campaign. After the submission of 
the Khan of Khokand had been secured, he led the expedition 
which, in the summer of 1876, cleared the valley of Ferghana of the 
adherents of the pretenders, Abdurrahman and Pulad, and secured 
peace to the whole of the new acquisition. He served as military 
Governor and Commander-in-chief of the Province of Ferghana, as 
the late Khanate of Khokand was called after its annexation to 
Russia, till March, 1877, when he was ordered to join the Grand 
Duke i^icholas, commander of the Russian troops in Europe. His 
name has been mentioned repeatedly since the entrance of the Rus- 
sian array into Turkish territory, and always with honor, as that of 
a daring, brilhant, and generally successful officer. At Simnitza, he 
led a reconnoitering squad of ten Cossacks which crossed the 
Danube to reconnoiter the opposite shore on the evening before the 
general crossing by the main force was to take place. At the second 
battle of Plevna, July 30th, he made the final attack on the Turkish 
position to cover the retreat of Prince Shachovsky after the day 
was lost. He was named as the hero of the day " in the Russian 
official bulletins of the battle of Lovatz, September 3d, which was 
largely through his services the first success, after many reverses, 



526 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



which the Russians had gained for more than six weeks. He also 
acquitted himself with credit in the battles at Plevna, September 
11th and 12th, the loss of which on the latter day, after a success on 
the former day, was ascribed by English correspondents to his not 
having been properly supported. The Eussian papers find fault 
with General Skobeleff as being too much addicted to the American 
method " of fighting, and too reckless of the lives of his men. He 
is described as " a tall, handsome man, with a lithe, slender, active 
figure, a clear blue eye, a large, prominent, well-shaped nose, and a 
face young enough for a second-lieutenant." At the end of the 
war, General Skobeleif had gained universal admiration as one of 
the most gallant of the Eussian generals. 

Shildner-Shuldner, General Jurij Ivanovitch, the Russian officer 
who suffered the repulse at the first battle of Plevna, was born in 
1816, of a noble family of the Government of Yitebsk. He was 
trained in the "i^obles' Regiment " of that day, the present Constan- 
tine Military School, and was afterward appointed instructor in the 
regulations of the service to the late and the present Czarevitch. 
After serving for twenty years as commander of the battalion of 
infantry instruction, he was appointed in 1860 to the command of a 
regiment in Poland, and was actively engaged in the suppression of 
the insurrection. He was made a Major-General and chief of a 
military district in Poland in 1864, and a Lieutenant- General in 1873. 
In the present war, a part of his division, which was attached to 
General Kriidener's corps, had to sustain the first shock of Osman 
Pasha's force at Plevna on the 20th of July. It was driven back 
with the loss of 2,771 men, or one-third of its strength, and the 
disaster led to the loss of the day and the failure of the first Rus- 
sian campaign in Bulgaria. 

Shachovsky, Prince Alexis Ivanovitch, the commander of the 
Russian left wing at the second battle of Plevna, was bom in 1812, 
and is a lineal descendant of Rurik, the founder and first sovereign 
of the Russian nation. He entered the military service in 1837, but 
did not become an officer till 1842, and it was not till after he had 
served for twelve years in the Caucasus that he became a Colonel. 
He was not engaged iu the Crimean war. He was made a Major- 
Gen eral in the suite of the Czar in 1860, and a Lieutenant-General 
in 1868. In 1876 he was assigned to the command of the 11th 
army corps. His corps was completely cut up at the second battle 
of Plevna, July 30th, and was afterward dissolved. He still 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



527 



remained nominally a corps commander, but was witliout a com- 
mand. 

General Dragomiroff, a Eussian officer wlio was wounded in the 
Shipka Pass, was born in 1830 in tlie Government of Tchernigov, 
and entered the active army from the military school as an officer in 
1819. He accompanied the Sardinian army as a Russian military 
plenipotentiary during the Italian war of 1819 till the battle of Sol- 
ferino. He afterward served as Professor of Tactics at the 
Nicholas Academy from 1860 to 1869, during which period he spent 
two months with the Prussian army during the Austro-Prussian war 
of 1866 as a military attache, and embodied the results of his ob- 
servations there in a special report to his Government. In 1868, he 
was made a Major-General and chief of staff of the military dis- 
trict of Kiev, in 1872 a Major-General of the suite of the Czar, and 
in 1873, commander of the 14th division. 

Imeretinski, Prince Alexander Constantinovitch, a young Russian 
General of promise, is of an Asiatic princely stock, being a descend- 
ant of the kings of Imeretia, the ancient Colchis. His father bore 
the title of Czarevitch of Imeretia. He was born in 1837, and re- 
ceived his first training in the Page-corps. When eighteen years 
old, he entered the military service as an ensign. He served in the 
Caucasus from 1856 to 1859, when he returned to Russia and com- 
pleted his military education. He joined the general staff as a Cap- 
tain in 1862 ; took part in the suppression of the Polish insurrection, 
and for his services in that campaign was promoted to the rank of 
Colonel and Adjutant in the Imperial suite. In 1869, he was 
made Major-General and chief of staff of the Warsaw military dis- 
trict. He was not engaged in the field at the beginning of the 
campaign of 1877, but was assigned to the command of a division of 
the reinforcements which were sent down to the army of the Danube 
in August. He had the good fortune to be associated with General 
Skobeleff in the capture of Lovatz on the 4th of September, and to 
have his name made kno^vn with honor in connection with this, 
event through aU Europe. It is well-said in regard to his service^ 
on this occasion, that it is no great achievement to defeat 7,000 of' 
the enemy with 20,000 men ; but it is something to know when to- 
bring the 20,000 against the 7,000, and to do it at the right time.. 
Prince Imeretinski was also associated with General Skobeleff in his; 
success at Plevna on the 11th, and his defeat at the same place on^ 
the 12th of September. 
28 



528 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



One of the most enthusiastic Panslavists among the Russian 
generals is Michel Gregoiyevitch Tchernayeff, to whom the Gov- 
ernment of Servia in 1876 intrusted the chief command of the 
Servian army. He was born in 1828, and is descended from a 
family belonging to the old Russian nobility. After finishing his 
studies in the military academy of Nicolayev, lie was in 1853 at- 
tached to the corps of infantry which began the military operations 
on the Danube. From that time Tchemayeff took an active part in 
all the Russian campaigns on the Danube near Sebastopol, in the 
Caucasus, and in Central Asia. His advancement in the army was 
very rapid, and in 1864, at the age of only thirty, he attained the 
rank of Major-General. In the following year he was appointed 
Governor-General of the province of Toorkistan, which had been 
conquered by him for Russia. On June 20, 18T6, he was placed 
on the retired list, and soon after he offered his services to the 
Servian Government, which intrusted to him the chief command of 
the army. 

Loris-Melikoff, General Michael Tarielovitch, commander of the 
Russian army of operations in Armenia, is an Armenian by descent, 
the son of a Grusian gentleman, a merchant of Tiflis, where he was 
born January 1, 1826. He received his military education at St. 
Petersburg, and entered the army in 1843. Four years later he became 
adjutant of Prince Yoronzoff, military governor of the Caucasus. He 
took part with honor in the campaign against the Tchetchentzes in 
1847 ; he was engaged as a Major in the campaign against Shamyl in 
1851, and, at the head of one thousand Cossacks, inflicted a severe 
defeat upon that chieftain. He distinguished himself during the Cri- 
mean war in the campaigns around Kars, and was appointed governor 
of that fortress after its capture in 1855. He was made a Lieutenant- 
General in 1863, and a General of Cavalry in 1875. He speaks 
fluently Turkish, Persian, Armenian, and Grusian. A few months 
before the declaration of war, he entered into communications with 
the Kurds and Karapaches in order to engage them on the Russian 
side, with a slight degree of success. He spoke with them in their 
native language, and showed himself quite familiar with their 
usages and views. In order to show his confidence in them, he 
took a number of their chiefs into his body-guard. It is said that 
these wild sons of the country never abused the trust he reposed in 
them. 

Tergukassoff, General Arsas Artemyevitch, commander of the 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



" Erivan Corps of tlie Russian army of invasion in Armenia, 
was born in 1819, the son of an Armenian priest, in the Govern- 
ment of Tiliis. He was appointed an ensign in the Engineer corps 
in 1837, and has served continuously since 1841 in the Caucasus. 
He was made a General in 1865, and a Lieutenant-General and 
commander of a division of infantry in 1876. He has so far 
proved himself the most capable of the Russian commanders in 
Asia. 

Dewell, General Feodor Danilovitch, commander of a division in 
the army of the Caucasus, was born in 1818, received his education in 
the higher school of engineers (now the JSTicholas Engineer-school), 
and entered the service in the cuirassiers of the body-guard of the 
Czarevitch. He was transferred to the sapper-battalion of the army 
of the Caucasus in 1842, and has since that time served continuously 
in the Caucasus. He distinguished himseK frequently in the wars 
against the mountaineers, gained a wide and honorable fame, and 
made himself formidable to the enemies of Russia by his deeds of 
heroic bravery. In 1856, he was a colonel of engineers in Kars, 
which the Russians had then captured from the Turks. Afterward 
he was commander of the regiment of infantry which had the 
honor of capturing the Circassian chieftain Shamyl. He was made 
a Major-General in 1865 and a Lieutenant-General in 1876. At the 
opening of the war in 1877 he was assigned to the command of the 
column of the army of invasion which had to march from Akhaltzikh 
to Ardahan. In capturing the latter city, he achieved the second 
notable Russian success of the campaign. 

Heimann, General Basili Alexandrovitch, of the Russian army of 
the Caucasus, an officer who distinguished himseK in the capture of 
Ardahan in May, 1877, was born at Grodno in 1823. He is of Ger- 
man descent. He entered the Nizhni ^Novgorod regiment as a 
"Younker" in 1839, and was transferred in 1842 to the Army of 
the Caucasus, with which he has ever since been connected. He 
became an officer in 1844, and in the next year distinguished him- 
self in several brilliant engagements with the hostile Caucasian 
tribes, in one of which he was wounded and narrowly escaped being 
taken prisoner. He was in active service during all the campaigns 
till the Caucasian war was ended by the surrender of Shamyl in 
1859, when he had risen to be a Colonel. In 1863 he escorted 
Prince Albert of Prussia during his journey through the Caucasus^ 
for which service the Prince recommended him to the Czar, and he 



530 



THE WAR IN THE EAST 



received tlie appointment of Major-General. In 1872 he was ap- 
pointed Lientenant-Generai and commander of a division, in which 
capacity he served under General Loris-Mehkoff in the campaign of 
1877 in Armenia. For his services at Ardahan, he received the 
gift of an elegant golden sword adorned with brilliants. He was 
less fortunate at Zewin, where his division, supported by the forces 
brought by General Melikofl: to his assistance, suffered a crushing 
defeat from the Turks. 

Oklobjio, General Ivan Dimitrievitch, commander of the " Rion . 
corps " of the Russian army of the Caucasus, is, according to some 
accounts, a Dalmatian, according to others, a Montenegrin. He was 
born in 1821, received his earlier training in the Austrian Military 
Institutes, and afterward completed a course, with honor, in the 
faculty of law of the University of Padua. He entered the Russian 
military service in 1846 as a Second Lieutenant in the Yagers of 
Prince Yoronzoft*, which was then in the Caucasus. He was en- 
gaged in the war against the Caucasians, but was present at the 
siege of Silistria in 1854. He was wounded several times during 
his Caucasian campaigns ; and in a battle with the Turks in 1853, he 
became entirely deaf in one ear, and had his head so disfigured 
that with the consent of the Czar he afterward wore a cap instead 
of a helmet. He is a good fighting soldier, but he is not regarded 
in Russia as having very high military talent. 

Abdul Kerim Pasha, who was appointed Serdar Ekrem or 
Generalissimo of the Turkish army in the beginning of the war, was 
for a long time looked upon as the ablest of the Turkish generals. 
He is a Turk of the old school, and his subordinates are fond of 
extolling the straightforwardness of his character. He was bom in 
1807, and received his military education in Yienna, where he went 
as a young ofiicer. He has ever since retained a great predilection 
for the German language, which he speaks tolerably well, and 
especially for German newspapers and military works, which he reads 
regularly. He has held the rank of Mushir for more than twenty- 
five years. He served at first in Mesopotamia, near Diarbekr, and 
Erzerum. In the Crimean war he commanded the Anatolian army 
near Erzerum and Kars, but as the statesmen in Constantinople with- 
held from him the necessary supplies, he could not be successful. 
He took part in the campaign against Montenegro under Omer 
Pasha (1862), and during the Cretan insurrection he commanded the 
corps of observation in Thessaly. After that he was a minister on 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



several occasions, either Minister of the Police or Minister of War. 
The latter position he held npon the outbreak of the war with Rus- 
sia. In the war with Servia he held the chief command of the 
Turkish army, and upon the outbreak of the war with Eussia, re- 
signed his position as Minister of "War in order to assume the supreme 
command of the Turkish forces in Europe. After the successful 
and rapid advance of the Russians beyond the Balkans he was re- 
moved on July 23, 1877, and was sent to the island of Lemnos. He 
is to be tried by a court-martial after the conclusion of peace. The 
immediate instigator of his removal was Prince Hassan of Egypt, 
who, having come to the conclusion that Abdul Kerim was follow- 
ing no definite plan, complained to the Sultan. ^N'amyk Pasha was 
sent to investigate the charges made, and when he corroborated 
Prince Hassan's statements, Abdul Kerim was removed from the 
command. 

Mehemet Ali ' Pasha, the Commander-in-chief of the Turkish 
forces in Bulgaria after the removal of Abdul Kerim Pasha, is a 
Prussian, having been born in Magdeburg, iTovember 18, 1827. His 
original name was Julius Detriot, and his father was a stafE-trump- 
eter in a regiment of Brandenburg. The boy was placed in a house 
of business at Magdeburg, but becoming dissatisfied with the dull 
routine of his life there, ran away, when in his fifteenth year, and 
embarked as ship-boy on board a merchant vessel at Rostok, which 
was about to sail for the Levant. The youth was no better satisfied 
with life on the ship than he had been with that of the business- 
house. One day, while the vessel on which he had shipped was 
lying in the Bosporus, he observed a caique, conveying a Turkish 
ofiicer. He jumped overboard, and swam toward the caique. The 
officer, who proved to be Ali Pasha, afterward Grand Yizier, heard 
his story, became interested in him, and took him under his pro- 
tection. At the very outset of his career in Ali Pasha's household, 
he expressed his intention of changing his religion, but was advised 
to reflect before taking such a step. The Chaplain of the Prussian 
Embassy was even called in to remonstrate with him against this step, 
but he persisted, and was at length admitted to the new religion, with 
the new name of Mehemet Ali. Two years later he was sent to the 
mihtary school, where he distinguished himself as one of the fore- 
most scholars. Having completed the course of the school in 1853, 
he was offered a position as assistant in the institution, but declined 
it, preferring a more active life in the campaigns of the Crimean 



532 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



war. He received a commission as Lieutenant, and went to the field 
on tlie Danube, where he first came under fire at Silistria. In 1857, 
he was a Captain at Slinmla, came under the notice of Omer Pasha, 
and was appointed to a position on his staff, in which capacity he 
served through the Crimean war, and later in campaigns in Monte- 
negro, Arabia, and Bosnia. He became a Colonel in 1863, and a 
General, with the title of Pasha, in 1865. He served with distinction 
duiing the insurrection in Crete, and again on the Montenegrin 
frontier. In 1873, he was appointed to the chief command of the 
forces in Thessaly, with the duty of suppressing brigandage, which 
he discharged with great ability and creditable success. Toward the 
close of 18T5, he was appointed commander at E'ovi Bazar, in 
Bosnia, and was afterward engaged in operations in Servia. ^hile 
Ms abilities have been well-known and acknowledged, he was, until 
he was appointed to the chief commandership in 1877, kept back in 
secondary places, under the jealous and foolish policy of the Turkish 
politicians, which leads them to prefer, even for the most important 
posts, a second-rate native Mussulman to a first-rate officer of foreign 
birth. After commanding the forces in Bulgaria for a few weeks, 
he was superseded by Suleiman Pasha. 

Suleiman Pasha, who attracted considerable attention by the im- 
petuosity displayed by him in the operations against Montenegro 
and in the Shipka Pass, was born in 1838, in a small town of 
Thrace. Like his father, he devoted himself to religious pursuits. 
He I'eceived his education in some of the best medressehs of Con- 
stantinople, and pursued his studies with such diligence that the 
Ulemas gave him the title of Hafnz — expounder of the Koran. 
The Crimean war found him in the army, where he rose to be adju- 
tant to Omer Pasha. Upon the conclusion of peace, he entered the 
military school of Constantinople, left it in 1860, and in 1862 took 
part in the campaign against Montenegro. When the insun*ection 
broke out in Crete, he went there as the commander of a battalion 
in the Imperial Guards, and displayed such bravery that he was 
given the command of a division, although he only held the rank 
* of Major. Even here he showed a predilection for operating 
wherever the most diflSculties presented themselves. Upon his 
return to Constantinople, he was appointed professor in the military 
school, was sent to Yemen when the revolt broke out there, and re- 
tm'ned with the rank of Colonel. A year later, he was a Brigadier- 
General and sub-director of the "War School, and when, a few months 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



533 



later, Ghalib Paslia died, Suleiman was appointed its first director 
in his place. This position he held uninterruptedly until the out- 
break of the Servian war in 1876. In this position he did much to 
reorganize the entire system of military instruction. In the Servian 
war of 1876, he commanded the First division of the army of ISTissa, 
with the rank of Eerik, or Lieutenant-General. During the short 
interval of peace that followed, he was a member of the commission 
that drew up the Turkish Constitution. In 1877, he was appointed 
Mushir, or Field-Marshal, and was assigned to the command in the 
Herzegovina. The campaign against Montenegro forms the most 
brilliant episode of his life. " For the first time in the history of 
Turkey," the Turkish papers said, did Turkish troops set foot on 
the heights of Ostrok." He w^as afterw^ard appointed to the com- 
mand of the forces in Eumelia, and was then ordered to replace 
Mehemet Ali on the Lom. After the fall of Plevna, he again went 
to Eumelia, where he was completely defeated by Gen. Gourko. 
He was said to have been unpopular, both with his soldiers and 
officers, on account of the strictness of his discipline. It is said^ 
also, that he was very jealous of his fellow-officers, so that he does 
not like to co-operate with them. He is described as being, in. 
appearance, much more like an Englishman or a ISTorth German 
tban a Turk, being tall and well-grown, with light blue eyes, and a 
flowing red beard, exceedingly particular in his dress, and fond of 
displaying all the pomp and ceremonial of his station. 

Osman Pasha, the defender of Plevna, attracted public attention 
to a greater degree than any of the other Turkish generals who par- 
ticipated in the war. His defense of Plevna ranks among the most 
brilHant operations of the kind, while, by his selection and fortifica- 
tion of this place, he displayed an ingenuity and skill which gaye tO' 
him a high rank among great generals. When he gained his first 
successes at Plevna, and his identity was in doubt, it was stated at 
one time that he was Marshal Bazaine, the defender of Metz, and 
again that he was an American officer by the name of Crawford f 
but both of these stories are without foundation. Osman Pasha is a- 
full-blooded Turk, having been born in Tokat, in Asia Minor, in 
1836. He began his studies under the care of his brother, the late 
Hussein Efieudi, Professor of Arabic in the Preparatory School at 
Constantinople. He studied at the military school, where he dis- 
tinguished himself by his excellent scholarship, and whence he came- 
out the first in standing, at the final examinations, as a Lieutenant,. 



534 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



He entered the army in 1853, and at the beginning of the Crimean 
war was appointed a staff officer, and sent to Shumla. After the 
close of the Crimean campaigns, he entered the Imperial Guard at 
Constantinople as a Captain, and was shortly afterward promoted to 
be commandant of a battalion of the Imperial G-uard. With his 
battalion, he was sent to Crete, to assist in suppressing the insurrec- 
tion which had broken out in that island. Ho was present in every 
movement of the campaign, and returned to the capital a Colonel. 
He was subsequently appointed Brigadier-General, General of Divi- 
sion, and Chief of Staff of the Fourth army corps, in which capacity 
he commanded a division at Widin. In reward for his eminent 
services in the war against Servia, he was raised to the rank of 
Mushir, or Marshal. In every position in which he has been 
placed, Osman Pasha has distinguished himself by his ability and 
efficiency. 

Among the many foreigners who have entered the Turkish serv- 
ice, none probably has deserved so well of the decaying Empire as 
the English Captain Augustus Charles Hobart, now called Hobart 
Pasha, the Admiral of the Turkish fleet. Hobart Pasha is the third 
son of the Earl of Buckinghamshire, and was born April 1, 1822. 
He entered the British navy in 1835, distinguished himself in the 
Crimean war, and rose to the rank of Captain. Thirsting for an ad- 
venturous life, Captain Hobart quitted the active service in the En- 
glish navy, which, however, continued his name in the list of retired 
officers. During the civil war in the United States, he commanded 
a swift blockade runner, the " Don," which cruised along the coast of 
[N'orth Carolina, and kept up maritime communications with the 
Southern States in spite of the Federal blockading squadron. He 
assumed the name of Captain Roberts, and under this name subse- 
quently published an account of his experience, but during the war 
very few people knew the daring dealer in contraband as the son of 
the Earl of Buckinghamshire. A few years later. Admiral Farragut 
met Captain Hobart in London, and in the course of conversation 
remarked that he had great trouble with one English blockade run- 
ner named Roberts, and that he had always regretted his inability to 
overhaul him. When assured that Capt. Hobart and Capt. Roberts 
were one and the same person, the A dmiral was very much amused. 
In the account which Hobart himself gave of his experience as a 
blockade runner, he stated that he made about £1,000 on each vent- 
ure, and that he learned by his success that no coast of much extent 



GENERAL TODLEBEN. 




SULEIMAN PASHA. 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



537 



could be successfully blockaded. In 1867, he was invited by the 
Turkish Government, which had just awakened to the urgent neces- 
sity of reorganizing its demoralized navy, to assume the difficult task. 
Great pecuniary inducements and the dignity which belongs to the 
rank of a Pasha were tendered to him, and he concluded to accept 
this offer. The English admiralty was greatly displeased with this step, 
and warned him that by entering the Turkish service he would forfeit 
his professional rights at home. Captain Hobart's first commission 
in the Turkish navy was that of Eear-Admiral. During the Cretan in- 
surrection he was commander of the fleet which was to enforce the 
blockade of Crete against the Greeks. He was completely saccessful in 
this attempt, and even compelled the Government of Greece to surren- 
der the transport " Enosis," which had taken Greek volunteers to Tur- 
key. In reward for these services, the Turkish Government appointed 
Hobart Pasha, in the latter days of 1869, Yice-Admiral, and early in 
the following March he was made an Admiral, and Inspector-General 
of the entire Turkish navy. When the English admiralty asked for 
explanation of the active part he had taken in the suppression of the 
Cretan insurrection, Hobart prayed that if his name should be taken 
from the active list, he might remain as a retired officer. The re- 
quest, however, was not complied with, and on March 19, 1868, his 
name was removed altogether. Not long afterward he applied for a 
reinstatement, and the subject was postponed. In 1869, a Liberal 
Ministry was installed, and the request was renewed, only to be 
promptly refused. In 1874, however, a Conservative Ministry hav- 
ing succeeded the Liberal one. Captain Hobart renewed his appeal, 
reciting in eloquent phrases the disgrace attending his dismissal, and 
reminding the Ministry of the encomiums he had earned by organiz- 
ing the Turkish navy. The Earl of Derby supported this application 
" as a matter of Imperial policy," considering it to be of material 
advantage that Admiral Hobart Pasha should occupy the position he 
held in Turkey. The Lords of the Admiralty, therefore, consented 
to allow the Hon. Augustus Hobart to be reinstated in his former 
rank as a Captain in the Royal l^avy, placing him on the retired list, 
with the half pay, £400 a year, and with the opportunity of rising 
by seniority to the rank of Retired Admiral. At the beginning of the 
war of 1877, Hobart Pasha attracted attention by his bold and suc- 
cessful exploit of running down the Danube, past the Russian bat- 
teries, with the. Turkish dispatch-boat "Rethymo." 

Achmed Mukhtar Pasha, the Commander-in-chief of the Turkish 



538 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



troops in Asia Minor, is believed to be a son of the late Sultan Ab- 
dul-Aziz. He is one of the few pupils of the Constantinople ITili- 
tarj School who are famous for military acquirements at home, and 
successively rose to be a Professor and Governor of the institution in 
which he was educated. He is still a young man, but his advance- 
ment in the Turkish army has been very rapid. He began his mili- 
tary career in 1862, as an officer of the general staff in the war 
against Montenegro. Later he fought in Yemen, Arabia, under the 
command of Hedif Pasha, against the rebellious Bedouins, and dur- 
ing this campaign he attained the rank of a Brigadier-General. 
"Wlien Redif Pasha was recalled to Constantinople, Mukhtar Pasha 
became Yali (governor) of Yemen and commander of the troops 
of this vilayet, with the rank of a Yizier. From Yemen he was 
recalled in order to be appointed Governor-General of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, where Dervish Pasha had been entirely usuccess- 
ful in his efforts to subdue the insurrection. At first he gained a 
few successes, but his defeat in the Duga Pass seriously injured his 
military reputation. Against the small number of the Montene- 
grins he was equally unsuccessful. To the chief command of the 
Asiatic army he was appointed at the special request of the Minis- 
ter of War, Redif Pasha, who refused to assume this position be- 
cause he feared that a protracted absence from Constantinople would 
be equivalent to a loss of his power and influence. The opening 
of the Asiatic campaign strengthened the widespread mistrust in 
Mukhtar' s military ability, and the loss of Ardahan was followed 
by a general clamor for his removal. Mukhtar Pasha has a kindly 
expression, and large, dark Oriental eyes. 

Ghazi Mehmed, Chief of the Circassian Free Corps in Asia, is a son 
of the celebrated Circassian chieftain Shamyl, the leader of the 
Circassians in their last war against Russia. He was taken a pris- 
oner with his father by the Russians, and was brought up under the 
supervision of the Court of St. Petersburg. His brother entered 
the Russian army, but he would not accustom himself to European 
relations, and used every opportunity to form for himself connec- 
tions with the East. With the permission of the Czar he went to 
Constantinople ; thence he entered into communication with the 
Circassians of Upper Armenia who lived under Turkish rule. Upon 
the outbreak of the war in 187T he avowed himself a Mnssulman, 
and an enemy of Russia, raised a free-coi-ps, and was sent by the 
Porte to Trebizond. He accompanied the Turkish expedition to 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



539 



Suklinm Kaleli and Abkliasia, and exerted himself actively to excite 
a £:eneral insurrection of the Mohammedan tribes. He bears a 
striking'resemblance to his father. 

Feizi Pasha, Chief of Staff to Mukhtar Pasha, and the most 
accomplished and skillful of the Turkish generals in Asia, is a Plun- 
garian by birth, whose proper name is Kohlman. He came to Tur- 
key about thirty years ago, and owes his Pashalic to the late Sultan 
Abdul- Aziz, who was struck by his behavior at a sham fight a few 
years ago, and promoted him. He won renown in the defense of 
Kars, under Sir Fenwick Williams, in 1855. In the present war, 
he is credited with the completion of the defensive works around 
Batum, Ardahan, Kars, and Erzerum ; with the able management 
as nominally second, though really chief in command, at the battle 
of Zewin, by means of which that engagement resulted in a grand 
Turkish victory ; and by his preparation of the Deve Boyun in front 
of Erzerum for occupation by the retreating Turkish army, and his 
gallant conduct in the engagement of the 5th of November on that 
hill. Owing to the Turkish jealousy of foreign officers, he has been 
kept in a secondary position, much below that which his merits should 
have commanded for him, and was retired to one still more subor- 
dinate during the interval between the summer and fall campaigns. 
The success of Mukhtar Pasha during the summer campaign is be- 
lieved to have been mostly owing to his counsels, and the belief is 
confirmed by the fact that after his retirement Mukhtar's good for- 
tune deserted him. Feizi Pasha has not become wholly a Turk, 
for he retains many European ways in his family life. 

E"edjib Pasha, also called Medjid Pasha, is about forty years old. 
He is a Turk by birth, but a European by education and by his 
mode of living. Contrary to the customs of his race, he married a 
Christian lady of Banialuka, in Bosnia, and since then has always 
lived in accordance with the manners of Western civilization. He 
was educated in the military school of Brussels, and spent several 
years in France, England, and Italy. In 1875 he commanded a 
brigade in the Herzegovina under Dervish Pasha. Eetuming to 
Constantinople in the early part of 1876, he joined in the conspiracy 
to overthrow Abdul Aziz, and was promoted by Murad Y. to the rank 
of Lieutenant-General. During the war with Servia, he was Chief 
of Staff to Abdul Kerim, and upon the outbreak of the present war 
w^as appointed to the command of the First division of the Army of 
the Danube, with which he inflicted several defeats on the Russians. 



540 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



Taver Pasha, a Circassian by birth, is a graduate of the Military 
School of Constantinople, and is considered to be the most accom- 
plished infantiy commander in the Turkish army. He particularly 
signalized himself at the head of the chasseurs in the sorties which 
marked the siege of Silistria in 1854. He was appointed Minister 
of War by Abdul Aziz in 1871, and acquittedhimself of his functions 
with rare honesty and zeal. After the passage of the Danube by 
the Russians, he was sent to aid in directing the defensive opera- 
tions on the Turkish side of the Danube. Yaver Pasha is one of 
the handsomest men living, and, like his Circassian compatriots, is 
brave and adventurous even to rashness. He is noted for the sin- 
gular mildness of his disposition, and his unwillingness to prosecute 
recalcitrant giaurs, without which he would probably long since 
have been appointed to the command in chief of one of the armies 
of the Empire. 

Shevket Pasha is the Tarkish officer who is charged with the 
responsibility for the outrages which were committed in Bulgaria in 
1876. He had the command of the forces whose members com- 
mitted the outrages, and should have prevented them, but made no 
effort to do so. It is told of him that three years ago he was a 
lieutenant, serving in the Herzegovina under Edhem Pasha. His 
commander, having a taste for drawing, sometimes made portraits 
of his officers, which he would send to Constantinople for the enter- 
tainment of the Sultan. Among these portraits was that of Shevket 
Pasha. Abdul Aziz, being struck with its appearance, directed the 
picture to be placed in his private gallery, and each time that he 
passed before it ordered the promotion of the original to a higher 
rank. Shevket Pasha's complicity with the Bulgarian outrages did 
not lose him the favor of the Porte. He was removed to a more 
obscure field of action for a short time, but was brought back to 
Bulgaria during the summer of 1877, and placed in a higher position 
than he had before occupied. 

Rauf Pasha, who occupied various positions during the war, was 
born in 1838. He was nominally Minister of the I^avy, but since 
July, 1877, he was employed on the seat of war. He served as 
Minister of War for a short time in October, 1877, and was ap- 
pointed to the same office in the reorganized Cabinet of February 
5, 1878. 

Fuad Pasha is considered the best cavalry general of the Turkish 
army. He is a Circassian by birth, but was brought up in Con- 



THE ACTORS IN THE CONTEST. 



stantinople, and received an excellent education. He has brought 
his cavalry division to a high standard of perfection. He com- 
manded the right wing of Snleiman's army, which made the ad- 
vance on Elena in the beginning of December, and with it captured 
that town on the 4th. 

Dervish Pasha, the commander of the Turkish forces at Batum, 
is a Bulgarian by birth, who has apostatized from Christianity to 
Islamism, and was born in 181Y. He first became known in a cam- 
paign in the Cassan Dagh against the Kurds. He was appointed 
War Minister in 1873, and afterward became Minister of the Marine. 
At a later period he was assigned to the command of the forces in 
Albania, with which he conducted, in 1876, an unsuccessful and 
disastrous campaign against Montenegro. He was superseded in 
his command by Mehemet Ali, and was shortly aftei-ward, after the 
massacre of the 6th of May, 1876, appointed Governor of Salonica. 
In June, 1877, he was transferred from this position to assume the 
command at Batum, and the direction of operations in JsTorthern 
Anatolia. His campaigns in this district were very successful, he 
having, in July, 1877, compelled the Russians to abandon, one after 
another, the important positions which they had occupied around 
Batum, and to retire to the frontier. 



I 



THIRD BOOK. 



THE 

EASTERN QUESTION AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR 
-AN OUTLOOK INTO THE FUTURE. 



THIRD BOOK. 



THE 

EASTERN QUESTION AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR 
-AN OUTLOOK INTO THE FUTURE. 



CHAPTEK I. 

THE DOOM OF TUEKEY. 

The Turkish Power in Europe destroyed by the War— The Turks can not retain their 
hold upon the Autonomous Provinces— Discontent sure to spread to the other Prov- 
inces—How Bulgaria separates the Capital from the Provinces— Probable Destiny 
of Bosnia and the Greek Provinces — What will become of the Turks — Principles of 
Decay essential in the Turkish System — The Koran a Barrier to all Progress — The 
Mohammedan System in Conflict with Popular Government — The Turk can not 
be Europeanized — Fatalism— Low Condition of Education in Turkey — Amusing 
Illustrations — The Turkish Language an Obstacle to Scientific Instruction— Christian 
Schools — They tend to build up the Christian Nationalities at the Expense of the 
Turkish System — Debasing Effect of Polygamy — The Conscription depleting the 
Country of its Moslem Youth — Sanitary Deficiencies — Decline of Turkish Popula- 
tion — Growing Importance and Influence of the Christians — Decadence of the Turkish 
Ofllcial Aristocracy — Condition of Asia Minor — Account by a French Traveler — Pic- 
ture by an American Missionary — Testimony of other Authors to the Ruin of the 
Country— The African Dependencies of Turkey— Egypt, Tunis, Tripoli— Frailty of 
the Tenure by which they are held— The Bedouins— The Ultimate Fate of Turkey. 

The war of 187Y-'Y8, althougli it lias not expelled the Turks from 
Europe, has destroyed their power there forever. It has inflicted a 
greater blow upon their dominion than was given bv the achieve- 
ment of the independence of Greece, and the erection into semi- 
independence of Servia and Rumania. It has made the independence^ 
of the last two States complete, and has estabhshed in their former- 
position of semi-independence, a new principality — Bulgaria — which,, 
having equal natural advantages and a population equally enterpris- 
ing and capable, has before it a promise of a career of at least as 
29 (545^ 



546 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



rapid advance toward full independence as they enjoyed at the time of 
the conclusion of the peace of Paris. It is a district which ah*eady 
contained the most prosperous agricultural and manufacturing indus- 
tries in the Empire, and which only needed a good government and 
the steady protection of its people, to become its richest and happiest 
province. However much diplomatists may seek in their treaties 
and their agreements with each other to restrain the natural course 
of events in order to preserve the balance of power in Europe, how- 
ever much they may quarrel over some particular provisions of the 
treaty of peace, and however much they may endeavor, in order to 
serve their own ends or defeat thek rivals, to preserve the integrity 
of what is left of European Turkey, the Turks have ceased to con- 
trol its nationalities ; and the semblance of control which is yet 
allowed to remain to them can not be permanent, but must pass 
away. The Treaty of Paris, with its provisions carefully framed to 
perpetuate the power of Tm^key as it was, and render attempts to 
assail it impossible, has been gradually worn away by the friction of 
national and religious rights, till it was discovered to be ready to 
collapse under a determined assault as suddenly as the Turkish power 
collapsed after the surrender of Plevna ; and any new instrument 
which may be framed by the powers will as surely be worn away 
under a similar friction, and become void. The Turks found it ex- 
tremely difficult to manage their Christian provinces under their old 
system of appointing Turkish and Mohammedan administrators over 
them ; they will find it impossible to do so after the provinces have 
been given governors of their own people and have become accus- 
tomed to having the administration of their affairs lodged in their 
own hands. Bulgaria, with autonomy, and fortified with the pi'epara- 
tions for self-government, which it has already been able to make 
under the most adverse circumstances, will soon find means to rid 
itself of the last remnant of Turkish power. It has already, as we 
shall show further along, won a harder fight against the Fanariote 
Greeks, and popular ignorance, and lassitude than the one now be- 
fore it is likely to be ; and it has the example of Servia and Kuma- 
nia to encom-age it. The happy fate which has now befallen it, 
w^ith the inspiration of ever-successful Montenegro, can only serve 
to increase the discontent in the other provinces, one of which, 
Bosnia, may be regarded as the birth-place of the late war, while 
the others are inhabited chiefly by Greeks, who are among the 
most enterprising of peoples, are always determined to possess as 



THE DOOM OF TURKEY, 



547 



good gifts as their neighbors enjoy, and are quite as averse to for- 
eign rule as are any Slavic nationalties. 

A glance at the map will show how great is the loss in territory 
to Turkey by the recent changes. A careful examination of the 
map of the distribution of the races and religions of Turkey, which 
is given in this work, wnll make it manifest that this is far from be- 
ing the most serious of the breaches that have been made in its 
power. The new autonomous principality of Bulgaria takes more 
than one-third of what is left of the European part of the Empire 
after Servia and Rumania are removed from direct Turkish rule ; 
and this part includes nearly all the compact settlements of Turks. 
The Turks, it will be noticed, are congregated in the largest masses 
in the Dobrudja and iL^orth-eastern Bulgaria, which are lost to Tur- 
key, and in the vilayet of Adrianople, where the greater part of 
them fall within Bulgaria. To Turkey fall only the smaller set- 
tlements in the south-west sandwiched between compact masses of 
Greeks and Bulgarians, those around Constantinople, and the scat- 
tered Turkish settlements between the capital and the Bulgarian 
part of the vilayet of Adrianople. The rest of the territory is in- 
habited entirely by Greeks, Albanians, or Servians. This is not all. 
The new Bulgaria splits the European Empire completely in two. 
Leaving a very small territory around Constantinople, it wholly cuts 
off Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia, and Albania from land communi- 
cation, and leaves Bosnia practically inaccessible and quite at the 
mercy of Servia and Montenegro. The situation and extent of the 
principality deprive the Turks of every means of counteracting the 
gravitation of their Greek provinces toward Greece, and render it 
almost certain that Bosnia will be pressed into union with Servia or 
the new Slavic nation which may be formed in Austria-Hungary, or 
absorbed in the Austrian Empire. Even if the Turks were the 
most civilized and influential of the nationalities on the Balkan 
peninsula, it would be difficult for them to retain their sover- 
eignty there. As the opposite is the case ; as they are the least civil- 
ized, the least active, and the least liked, a long continuance of their 
rule seems impossible ; and as we have seen, the situation and con- 
formation of the Bulgarian principality can only act to hasten the 
time of their removal. It is generally hazardous and unwise to pre- 
dict the future of any nation ; there are so many circumstances that 
may suddenly change the aspect of its affairs ; and the possibility 
must always be taken into account that great reforms miv be iu- 



548 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



stituted to arrest a downward tendency, and the occurrence of great 
crises may operate to awaken the slumbering energies of the people 
and excite a revival of their national life ; but it is certain that there 
is very much in the condition and character of the Turks which 
makes the reduction of their Empire to very small limits, or even 
their total destruction, highly probable. 

The principle of decay is contained in the very foundation of 
the Turkish system. The whole political and social fabric of a 
Mohammedan State is built upon the Koran. The Koran is not 
only the religious book, or Bible ; it is also, and as much, the law 
book and the school book for every true Mussulman. It is regarded 
as containing everything that is necessary as a rule of life in the 
individual or the State. Whatever is not in the Koran, is held 
to be useless if it does not disagree with it — false, if it is incon- 
sistent with it ; in either case is liable to be rejected. While we 
may admit that the gift of the Koran, imperfect as it was, was a 
boon to the barbarous peoples upon whom it was at first conferred, 
in that it imposed restraints upon those who had acknowledged 
none before, and principles upon those who had known no princi- 
ple, the gift was also a harmful one, in that it fixed a mark beyond 
which improvement would not be permitted to go, and would not 
be possible. " The great evils of the old Oriental system," says Mr. 
E. A. Freeman, in his "History and Conquests of the Saracens," 
"were despotism, polygamy, absence of law. N^one of these has 
Mohammedanism removed. It has, indeed, partially alleviated 
them, but, by the very fact of alleviating, it has sanctioned and 
stereotyped them." These few words contain, as in a nut-shell, the 
whole story of Turkish misrule, and of the failure of attempts at 
reform, and the evils under which the Empire is suffering at this 
day. 

By the law and doctrine of the Koran, the State is regarded as 
a theocracy. Its theory is, that the State exists by the direct will 
of God ; that it is governed in His service, and in accordance with 
His foreordained decrees, and it leaves no place for the inclusion of 
the good and prosperity of the people and the consultation of their 
desires, which are now fundamental features of the Constitution of 
most Western Governments. It also precludes the introduction of 
any genuine and general system of consulting the will of the people 
in directing the Government, for that would be at once to set up 
another authority in contradiction to the one by which the head of 



THE DOOM OF TURKEY. 



549 



the State holds his right to rule. On this point, Mr. Freeman again 
says : " The legitimate Mohammedan despot either claims to be 
himself the Caliph, or representative of the Prophet, or to act as the 

lieutenant of one who does His will is, indeed, bridled by 

the precepts of the Koran and the expositions of its commentators, 
but the existence of this check effectually precludes the existence of 
any other ; consequently, Mohammedanism has done really little or 
nothing for the political improvement of the Eastern world. No 
Mohammedan nation has attained, or ever can attain, to Constitu- 
tional freedom, while the same man is Pope and Caesar, while the 
same volume is Bible and statute book ; there is no choice but des- 
potism or anarchy. The individual Caliph, or Sultan, may be got 
rid of when his yoke has became insupportable ; but the institution 
of an irresponsible Caliph, or Sultan, can only be got rid of when 
the creed of Mohammed is got rid of also." This, although it was 
written twenty years ago, presents as accurate a picture of the 
Tui'kish nation in 18TT as if it had been said in the full light of the 
dethronement of two Sultans in the same year, and of the failure 
of the effort to satisfy the complaints of the people by the introduc- 
tion of Constitutional government. 

The Mohammedan system in Turkey at last finds itself in full 
conflict with the demand of the age for government by the people, 
for the people — a demand which has revolutionized every other 
State in Europe except Russia. It can not make a genuine submis- 
sion to the demand without ceasing to be itself, l^o compromise is 
possible. A complete surrender must be made by one side or the 
other. In the light of the history of the last thirty years, it is im- 
possible to doubt which side will prevail. 

The theocratic system was well adapted for the purposes which 
the earlier Mohammedan leaders had to carry out, and was undoubt- 
edly a real source of strength while those purposes were prosecuted. 
The mission of early Mohammedanism was to overcome the nations, 
and convert them to the faith revealed to the Prophet. It made an 
army of the believers, who were kept constantly at war, going for- 
ward from one conquest to another. All their wars were holy wars. 
The teachings of the Koran were skillfully adapted to inflame their 
fanatic zeal, to make them brave, enduring, inflexible, devoted. It 
forbade them the enjoyments of a settled life, and gave them those 
which appertained to the camp. It took from them what made the 
present life agreeable, and promised them instead the richest 



550 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



rewards in tlie life to come, for self-denying devotion. To destroy 
what few of the attractions of home-life the Orientals knew, the 
Koran was made to speak everywhere slightingly of woman. As 
the pursuits of knowledge and art were not compatible with the 
warlike condition, painting and sculpture were condemned as inven- 
tions of the devil, music and poetry as trifling. Hatred was instilled 
against unbelievers who refused to be converted, who were further 
made lawful subjects for murder or spoil. The reservation that the 
conquered infidels should be permitted to purchase immunity by the 
payment of a ransom, while it did not abate the zeal of the faithful, 
inflamed their cupidity. Lastly, the doctrine of fatality, teaching 
that all events are predestinated by God, and are inevitable, was 
invented to make the soldiers reckless and insensible to danger. 

Thus," says Dr. Carl Griibler, in his Mohammedanism, Pan- 
slavism, and Byzantism,'' ''was everything taken away from the 
believer, and nothing left to him but the duties to obey, to fight, 
and to die. Mohammedanism is an iron-hearted, narrow, and strict 
sold i e rs'-religion. " 

"While the Mohammedans continued to lead a soldier-life, these 
regulations had their fullest sway, and were a real bond of union 
among them and a source of streng-th. They were, however, un- 
fitted for any other life. When the tribes ceased to war, and began 
to settle, they were no longer active, or could act only in a perverted 
manner; and the whole system, of which they were an essential 
part, was subject to a decay, which has become more manifest as 
time has removed the nation further from the conditions to which 
they were adapted. 

In the present century they have operated among the most power- 
ful agencies for undermining the political and social life of the 
Ottomans. They can not originate a progressive civilization, but they 
may and do operate as a block to the introduction of any other civiliza- 
tion. As Mr. Freeman has well expressed it : " A Mohammedan native 
accepts a certain amount of truth, receives a certain amount of civili- 
zation, practices a certain amount of toleration. But all these are so 
many obstacles to the acceptance of truth, civilization, and tolera- 
tion in their perfect shape. The Moslem has just enough of all on 
which to rest and pride himself, and no longer feels his own defi- 
ciencies." As the principles of Mohammedanism are opposed to all 
the ideas on which European culture rests, they forbid the success- 
ful introduction of such culture among the Turks while they remain 



THE DOOM OF TURKEY. 



Moliamraedaii. It is impossible to conceive of a nation as free or 
enlightened according to Western views of freedom and enlighten- 
ment, whose ruler, though he be a fool or an idiot as Avell as a de- 
bauchee, is invested with sanctity ; which has no family life, which 
despises art and attaches no value to knowledge, and whose fatalism 
forbids all kinds of enterprise and every earnest, persistent effort to 
improve its condition, and which despises its neighbors in their 
strength while it cherishes its weaknesses with pride. It is therefore 
just what might have been expected from the nature of things that 
every effbii: to engraft European principles upon Moslem life has 
either totally failed, or has resulted in the creation of a ridiculous 
travesty. The French traveler, M. Auguste Choisy, after having 
carefully observed the Turks at home, both in Constantinople and 
in Asia, remarks that it is a mistake to believe that their capital has 
become a European city. " The Old Turk may wear the garments 
of reform, but he has only changed his clothes, and this same Turk 
who dresses as you do and speaks your words, no more shares your 
feelings, your tastes, or your ideas, than a contemporary of Solyman 
or Mohammed II." Another writer compares Ottoman culture to 
a building which has been begun at the roof without a proper foun- 
dation, and Turkey clothed in European garments to a pretentious 
peasant girl who has dressed herself in fine feathers and gloves, 
while she knows nothing about stockings and pocket-handkerchiefs. 
The views of these writers are corroborated by the general testimony 
of writers on Turkey and correspondents from the chief towns of 
the Empire. 

The doctrine of fatalism has proved a rigid barrier to progress, 
and has prevented the development of everything like energy or 
entei-prise. It teaches that as everything has been foreordained of 
God, nothing can be avoided, nothing can be hastened ; then why 
struggle, why plan, why build for the future ? Let everything go ; 
it is God's wiU. In rare consistency with his professed faith,, the 
Tm-k does let everything go. Indolence is a universal characteristic 
of the race. Indifference to ruin and the progi-ess of destractive 
agencies prevails everywhere. Foresight is rarely found. The 
peasant tills enough ground to afford him probably a bare living, and 
if the crops fail, he dies of hunger. The result in either event is 
accepted as the decree of fate. This doctrine, which was good, as 
we have shown, in war time, and in which lies in part the secret of 
the wonderful bravery and endurance of the Turkish soldiers, be- 



552 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



comes a fatal one under other circumstances. One can not doubt, 
sajs Mr. Freeman, that it ''had a wonderful effect in animating the 
spirits of the first Saracens ; but its ultimate effect has been perni- 
cious to the last degree. When the first heat of enthusiasm is over, 
this same doctrine leads to quite opposite results. It becomes a 
mere excuse for stupid and listless idleness ; submission to the divine 
will is held to render all human exertion superfluous. ISTothing in 
the world is so energetic as a Mohammedan nation in its youth ; 
nothing is so utterly feeble as a Mohammedan nation in its old age." 

The blighting influences of the Koran are strikingly exemphfied 
in the low condition of education in Turkey. A liberal, thorough 
education is incompatible with the principles of Islam. The Koran 
is the universal text-book ; it is the only text-book in most of the 
schools ; and is the standard in all the people's schools, to which the 
teaching must conform. It is fuU of errors on matters of fact, but 
they must be taught without attempting to correct them, for it is 
impious to contradict what is in the Holy Book. More often, how- 
ever, the teaching amounts to nothing. The instruction is quite 
mechanical, and consists chiefly in learning to read the characters, to 
recite the phrases of the Koran in an approved style, and to write a 
fair hand. As the book is in the Arabic language, which the chil- 
dren never comprehend and the teacher seldom understands, no 
ideas whatever are conveyed. A pupil may learn to repeat the 
whole Koran by heart without being able to give, or comprehending 
himself, the meaning of a single text. Further than this he may 
learn what principles of Moslem duty and outward behavior the 
fanatic teacher may be able to impart, prominent among which is 
contempt for all unbelievers. In some schools instruction is given 
in the four primary rules of arithmetic and in geography ; but in 
the latter branch the teacher has to guard carefully against affording 
too much information, lest hfe come in conflict with the extremely 
absurd doctrines of the Koran respecting the shape and extent of the 
earth and the structure of the universe. Better schools have been 
provided in a few places ; but they are only special schools, to which 
a limited number of privileged persons have access, and are, in no 
sense, popular schools, and can not contribute materially to the 
general education of the country. The Government has been com- 
pelled, by the pressure of the necessity of educating competent 
officers, to establish a number of schools of a high order to which 
foreign teachers have been called, but these are exceptional institu- 



THE DOOM OF TURKEY. 



553 



tioiis, and stand out in striking contrast with tlie character of the 
national schools. No general improvement in the standard of edu- 
cation is likely to be made while the mosques remain the centers of 
the higher instruction and the national schools are subordinated to 
Mohammedanism ; for real instruction would destroy the autliority 
of the Church. A ministry of instruction has been in existence 
since 1847, and has made some efforts to raise the standard of edu- 
cation, but has accomplished nothing worthy of remark beyond 
securing a registry of scholars. The most earnest desires of the en- 
lightened men, who have sought to introduce better systems into the 
schools, have been baffled by the conservative and bigoted prejudices 
of men from whom, judging by the positions they held, better things 
might have been expected. Some amusing anecdotes, illustrating 
this fact, are given in the book " Stamboul and Modern Turkdom." 

The Departrnent of Instruction, several years ago, appointed a 
commission to prepare a series of text-books on Ancient, Mediaeval, 
and Modern History. The preparation of the works was given to a 
Christian, who, in due time, submitted the work on Ancient History 
to the inspection of his Mohammedan fellow commissioners. It was 
rejected, because it told of a certain Cyras, who had been King of 
Persia, of whom the Mohammedan histories made no mention. 
When he was referred to the mentions of Cyrus made in the Bible, 
and existing on inscribed monuments standing within the territory 
of Tm-key, the Mussulman president of the commission declared the 
Bible records had been falsified by the Jews and Christians, and the 
monumental inscriptions were an invention, and he would have none 
of this Cyrus. The History has not since been heard of. At another 
time the Sultan ordered a translation of a certain historical work 
made for the use of the schools. The Minister of Instruction 
objected to the book, when it was submitted to him, because it 
failed to relate that Abraham was condemned to be burned by Nim- 
rod, as was related in some of the Mohammedan fables, and, because 
in giving the story of the building of Solomon's temple, it omitted 
to tell that the temple was built by Genii at Solomon's command. 
"I think,' said the Minister, "that such a book is not fit for our 
schools, and that we had better use the ^ Lives of the Saints' instead 
of it." The book was printed, because the Sultan had ordered it, 
but it has never been introduced into the schools. 

The office of a court-astrologer is still maintained at the capital. 
The present incumbent was, till the middle of March, 1877, Presi- 



554 



THE WAR IN THE EAST 



dent of the Council of Instruction, and was afterward a Senator 
It is his business to calcnlate the lucky hours and moments for 
Court festivals, and to publish an almanac every year with general 
instructions of a similar character. The distinguished astronomer, Dr. 
Peters, whose more recent discoveries have reflected enduring honor 
on American science, visited Constantinople in 1850, with recom- 
mendations from A. Yon Humboldt and other distinguished scholars, 
but was dismissed, it is said, because he could not compete with this 
functionary. A disastrous explosion took place in the arsenal on the 
day that he was introduced by the Prussian Ambassador to the 
Grand Vizier, Reshid Pasha. "This Prankish astronomer," said 
the Grand Yizier, either knew beforehand that this event would 
take place, and in that case he is a great villain ; or he did not know 
it, in which case he is an ignorant fellow ; we can not have anything 
to do with him anyhow.""^ 

Other obstacles are offered to the progress of modern knowledge 
by the character of the Turkish written language, which is ill adapted 
to the inculcation of new ideas. The characters are syllabic, each 
one representing combinations of consonanted sounds, without 
reference to the vowels. The same combination of characters may 
represent several words of widely different meanings, which can not 
well be distinguished without knowledge of the context, or some 
pre"sH[ous general knowledge of the subject. Such a system is, in the 
nature of things, useless for teaching subjects totally foreign to the 
genius of the people. 

While the Mohammedan Turks are thus without education, or the 
means of acquiring it, the situation of the Christian populations is 
far different. Servia has established an efficient system of schools 
according to the modem standard ; Rumania is but little behind it 
in the creation of educational advantages ; and in all the Turkish 
provinces of Europe the Christians have been very active, and have 
accomplished wonderful things considering the disadvantages under 
which they have labored. The Greeks have been particularly ener- 
getic in this enterprise, having established good schools even before 
the Greek Revolution, and having now multiplied them in every 
part of the Empire, where they are numerous. The Catholic Ar- 
menians, sending their young men to European institutions to be 
educated, have raised themselves to a rank among the most intelli- 



* " Stambul und das Modern e Turkenthum." Leipsic, 1877. 



THE DOOM OF TURKEY. 



555 



gent communities of the Empire. The Gregorian Armenians, and 
the Jews, have also made a great advance within the last ten years. 
The revival of education among the Bulgarians is noticed in another 
place. Numerous schools, high-schools and colleges, quite equal in 
their plans and methods to the best European standards for similar 
schools, are maintained by both Roman Catholic and Protestant 
missionaries in Europe, Asia Minor, and Armenia. All of these 
movements are, it is true, for the advantage of Turkey, but it is the 
advantage of non-Mohammedan Turkey that they promote; and 
just in the measure that they build up the character and strengthen 
the intelhgence of this part of the people, in the same measure do 
they threaten ruin to the Mussulman system. 

The superiority of the non-Mussulman schools has not escaped 
the attention of the more intelligent Turks. The Bassiret^ a lead- 
ing newspaper of Constantinople, published an article on the subject 
in 18Y3, which, after complimenting the Greeks and Armenians on 
their entei'prise in maintaining schools and the quality of their in- 
struction, cited in illustration of the latter that the pupils of one of 
these schools could readily compute problems and bank accounts 
involving milHons with the utmost accuracy, while a Mussulman 
tradesman could not calculate a transaction of ten piasters without 
the help of his beans. It admitted that in the face of this difference 
in knowledge, the Turks would not be able to compete with the 
Greeks and Armenians, and proposed as a remedy for such a con- 
tingency, that the Government should institute an inspection of the 
Greek and Armenian schools, in order, of course, though the pur- 
pose was not avowed, to reduce them to the level of the Turkish 
schools. 

Polygamy is one of the most active causes for Turkish decline. 
It is not peculiar to the Turkish people, nor even to Mohammedans, 
but has existed among the Asiatic peoples from the earliest period of 
their history. Even before the time of Mohammed, it had become so 
interwoven with the national and social life of many of those na- 
tions as to have become one of the central principles around which 
their institutions were formed. Mohammed could not have abolished 
it if he had tried ; he could hardly have controlled it. He regulated 
it, but was far from estabhshing it. It was only a coincidence that 
the nations in which his faith took root were polygamous nations ; 
but it is one of the results of this coincidence that the most con- 
spicuously polygamous nations of the present are the Mohammedan 



556 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



ones. Polygamy and the vices which it generates will leave more 
or less disastrous effects, both moral and physical, upon the soundest 
and best organized constitutions. These effects will be less manifest 
upon an active, energetic race, whose life is all out of doors, and 
who are engaged in constant aggression, as were the Turks of old, 
because they are neutralized by the predominance of the habits and 
influences which go to build up manly strength. But they show 
themselves immediately among a people who have settled down to 
sedentary life, and have thereby fully exposed themselves to all 
enervating and destructive influences; and with such people they 
show themselves with steadily-increasing force. While the nomadic 
Turks and the Bedouins are still hardy and aggressive, their lazier 
and more comfortable neighbors among the wealthier classes of 
Turkey and Persia have nearly reached the end of their manly race. 
Polygamy has the mark of barbarism in its origin. The American 
political catch-word, which describes it as a twin relic of barbarism 
with slavery, is full of truth. Polygamy is a real symbol of slavery, 
for wherever it prevails in the East, the woman is bought, and may 
be the slave of the man until he raises her to the condition of wife- 
hood. In many Mohammedan countries, as in Circassia before it 
fell into the hands of the Kussians, the training of girls was regarded 
merely as preparing them for the market, in anticipation of the day 
when they were to be sought by some rich lord, or taken to some 
capital to be delivered to the highest bidder. The whole system of 
the harem is opposed to the idea of a spiritual relation between man 
and wife, which is the foundation of marriage in "Western countries, 
and reduces the relation to a sensual one, established simply for the 
gratification of lust and the propagation of offspring. 

Some of the most direct evil results flow from this view of the 
relation. It gives prominence to the play of the animal qualities, 
and depresses, in a corresponding degree, the moral and sesthetic 
qualities. With blunted spiritual conceptions, the polygamist gives 
himself up to a course of indulgences which exhaust his constitution. 
He transmits his weakness to his children, who also inherit, in an 
aggravated degree, the propensities whose cultivation has caused it, 
and thus the degradation is accelerated from generation to genera- 
tion until the race is exhausted and dies out. The evil is intensified 
by the custom of early marriages, under which the Turkish youth 
are often permitted to begin the process which undermines their 
constitutions when hardly more than mere children. It is a charac- 



THE DOOM OF TURKEY, 



557 



teristic of Turkish history that few of the great families endure for 
more than a few generations, but that they have to be replaced 
from the more vigorous ranks. 

The moral elfects of polygamy are as plain and direct as the 
physical. The man does not know how to bestow an exclusive 
love ; the woman has no hope of receiving such love. The oppor- 
tunity for the culture of the nobler faculties, which is one of the 
richest gifts of Western marriages, is hopelessly lost to both. Home 
life there is none. The life of the harem is idle and listless. The 
wife is one of several who are rivals, and whose rivalry leads them 
all to nurse the less noble faculties at the expense of the nobler ones, 
and to substitute craft and tricks for true affection and faithful 
wifeliness. She is liable at any time to be supplanted by a new 
favorite. Divorce is easy, accomplished almost with a word. No 
inducement is offered for training women for a higher life, for no 
opportunity is given them to enter such a life. Hence the educa- 
tion of women is not thought to be of much importance. The 
mother becomes such without having received the slightest quali- 
fication for training her children, and the children emerge into 
youth without having received any discipline or preparation to 
adapt them to a manly calling. Thus that period which in Europe 
is regarded as most precious, and is employed in instilling the prin- 
ciples in which the future conduct is to be based, and for laying the 
foundation of a solid education, is in Turkey spent in vacuity or 
under the evil influences of harem-attendants. The effects of polyg- 
amy reach far beyond the families in which it is an individual 
feature. While the proportion of the sexes remains even approxi- 
mately equal, unusual marital privileges can not be accorded to one 
man without reducing, in a corresponding degree, the privileges of 
his fellows. Hence it must always be that a large part of the male 
population are forever deprived of the hope of marriage ; and this 
part is Kkely to be of the most robust, for it will be of the poorer 
people, whose ranks have been least subjected to the debasing in- 
fluences of the practice. The practice of importing wives from 
abroad hardly lessens the evil, for the newly-bought women go to 
swell the already well-supplied harems, and not to the households 
of the enforced bachelors. A steady decrease of population is 
directly incurred by this condition. Since a monogamous house- 
hold ordinarily furnishes the State with four children, the harem 
ought to afford four times as many children as it has wives ; but no 



558 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



such rule prevails. Grenerally, the larger the harem, the smaller, 
relatively, is the number of the children. The late Sultan, Abdul 
Medjid, with five hundred wives and concubines, had only thirteen 
children, and his brother, with haK as many in his harem, had five 
children. 

The severe jealousy with which women are guarded in the East, 
and the restrictions which are imposed on them, leading to the 
adoption of practices which are regarded by civilized nations with 
abhorrence, must be accredited to the necessities of the institution of 
polygamy. The disabilities which it imposes extend even to the 
Christian women of Asiatic Turkey, who are compelled, by the force 
of custom and Mohammedan ideas, to submit to regulations which are 
foreign to the teachings of their faith. 

The damaging effects of polygamy upon the constitution are direct- 
ly exemplified in the feebleness and mortality of the Turkish children. 
The proportion of children who are diseased from their birth is ex- 
traordinarily large ; extraordinarily large also is the proportion of 
early deaths. Sixty per cent, of the children in the Turkish districts 
die before they are five years old. The practices which operate to 
cause the death of children or to prevent their birth prevail in Turk- 
ish families to an alanning extent. The Koran does not prohibit 
abortion, and the Turkish laws which aim to prevent it, are ineffect- 
ive, partly on account of their indefiniteness, partly through the 
complicity of the officers upon whom their execution depends in the 
offense, but mcfst of all by reason of the privileges of the harem, 
which make an investigation substantially impossible. The au- 
thor of " Stamboul and Modern Turkdom " says that "what appears 
in Christian societies only as an isolated offense, is in Islam a social 
custom, and abortion has assumed, among the Turkish population, 
such colossal proportions that the Government, alarmed at the deso- 
lating consequences of the evil, has for many years endeavored in 
vain to find an efficient remedy for it." The same author quotes 
an estimate from a Turkish newspaper, to the effect that about four 
thousand cases of abortion occur in Constantinople every year, in 
which the result is fatal to ninety-five per cent, of the children and 
two-thirds of the mothers. 

The Koran limited the number of a Mussulman's wives to four, 
and affixed other regulations to marriage which still remain in the 
text, but have been so modified by interpretations and new condi- 
tions as to be of httle effect. Practically, the number of a Moslem's 



THE DOOM OF TURKEY. 



559 



wives and concubines is limited by his ability to support them. 
Wealthy Turks have as many as they want, while the poorer ones 
have to be contented with one apiece, or none. The degree of ener- 
vation and demoralization corresponds very closely with the size of 
the harem. The Turks of the wealthy classes are thoroughly indolent 
and sensual, while those of the lower classes are more sober and ro- 
bust. The poorer Turks have saved the Ottoman race from the ex- 
haustion with which it has long been threatened. As the higher 
families have died out, their places have been filled from the ranks. 
Every position and function in the Empire short of the Sultanate 
has been filled repeatedly by men of the masses, who have brought 
to the offices the virility which higher-born officers could not sup- 
ply. The Imperial family, whose polygamy has been most excessive, 
has nearly run out, so that it is widely recognized that there is not a 
person of ordinary capacity among the heirs to the throne. Mah- 
moud II. was the last of the Sultans who was a man of respectable 
ability, and it has been asserted, with much show of truth, that the 
removal of the effete reigning family will be an essential condition 
precedent to the taking of any measures to be effective for the regen- 
eration of the Turkish State. 

Another cause which is ever active to weaken the hold of the ruling 
race in Turkey, is the conscription for the army, which has been con- 
fined to the Mohammedan part of the population. It removes the Turk- 
ish youth at the most vigorous period of their life, while it leaves the 
Christians secure in their homes, to follow their ordinary callings and 
raise their families. It is a cause which in the manner of its opera- 
tion is peculiar to Turkey, for in all other countries the armies are 
recruited from the whole population; while here, the very wars 
which the nation is obliged to wage for its existence, contribute the 
more rapidly to its destruction by giving the hostile elements within 
its own borders unusual opportunities to increase at the expense of 
its vital forces. It is only within a little more than the last year 
that the Government has been obliged to supply a waste that had 
become otherwise irreparable, to make provision for the general en- 
listment of Christians in its armies. 

The total want of knowledge of sanitary science, and the conse- 
quent lack of intelligent sanitary regulations, must be counted among 
the notable factors that contribute to the depletion of the country. 
Intelligent physicians are scarce ; the people know nothing of the 
laws of health ; and the best sanitary regulations, whenever they are 



56o 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



attempted, are easily evaded through the corruptibility of the officers. 
The country is consequently exposed, almost without defense, to the 
ravages of all forms of disease, and experience has taught often, that 
it is impossible to stay the progress of an epidemic when it has been 
introduced into a Turkish city, tiE it has run its course. The Em- 
pire has been repeatedly devastated by plague and cholera, and is no 
better defended against them now than it was in the most primitive 
times. 

The testimonies to the steady decline of the Turkish population 
are so numerous that the repetition of them would be tedious. The 
fact is obvious and generally admitted. The author of the book 
" Stamboul and Modem Turkdom " says that the fact that the popu- 
lation is diminishing at an increasing rate, can not be denied, although 
it has been contradicted. The steady recession of the Ottoman ele- 
ment before the Greeks and Bulgarians in Rumelia, is said to be in- 
contestible. The officers of the railroads have noticed that the Turk- 
ish towns are declining, and Bulgarians are taking the place of the 
former Moslem inhabitants. The ruined minarets of deserted 
mosques in such towns as E"issa, Widin, Lom, Florentine, Rustchuk, 
and others, are pointed to as evidence that the Mohammedan popula- 
tion is dying out ; and although there is as yet no important place in 
Old Servia, Bosnia, and Bulgaria, in which Islam is not represented by 
at least a few adherents, the number of such is constantly becoming 
less.^ While the Turkish households in these provinces seldom con- 
tain more than two children each, Greek and Slavic families often 
have from five to ten children. The Bassiret, the organ of the Old 
Turkish party in Constantinople, said, in April, 1875*, in an article 
on this subject : " The decrease ot* the population is visible, and has 
already reached such proportions that not only the defensive strength 
and taxable resources of the country, but also the credit of the State 
abroad, yes, even its existence, is threatened." 

The Mussulmans recede before the non-Mussiilmans wherever the 
two come in contact. All of the enterprise, all of the progressive 
force that exist in the Empire are the results of Christian or 
Jewish energy. Even before the Greek Revolution, the commercial 
and naval fleets of Turkey were manned by Greeks and commanded 
by Greek officers. The maritime commerce of the East is still con- 
trolled by Greeks, and all the important trade of the commercial 

* Die heutige Turkei, (The Turkey of To-day). By Fr. Von Hellwald and L. C. Beck, 
Leipzig. 



THE DOOM OF TURKEY. 



56t 



ports is managed by Greek and Armenian merchants. The ex- 
perience of the French traveler, Choisy, Avho went to Constantino- 
ple from Ti'ieste in a ship of Turkish nationality, but manned by 
Greek and Dahiiatian sailors, is the rule at most Turkish ports. 
The Christian populations are most numerous all along the sea- 
coasts, wherever any enterprise exists or any progress is visible. 
This is most conspicuously true of the towns of the Macedonian and 
Thracian coasts, bat the non-Musulmans are also a power at 
Alexandria and even at Constantinople, while Smyrna and Beyrut 
have come largely under foreign influences, and several recent 
writers speak of the whole west coast of Asia Minor as steadily 
undergoing a Grecianizing process. In Napoleon Bonaparte's time 
the Sultan Mahmoud II., when asked to make an unacceptable peace 
with Kussia, boasted that Rumelia alone could furnish him enough 
troops with which to give an answer to seven kings. It is doubtful 
if Eumelia now, under the depopulation of the Turkish race and- 
the growth of European strength could afford enough troops to put 
down a determined insurrection of its own Greeks and Bulgarians. 
The city of Brassa, the very home of the Turks, the original capital 
of the nation, the place to which the Sultan will flee if he is ever 
driven from Constantinople, is, according to AT. Choisy, only half 
Turkish. Its industries, its spinning establishments and looms, 
which are quite important, are in the hands of Europeans, chiefly 
English." Throughout the Empire, all those things which point to 
progress, which give strength, which promise a futui*e, are in the 
hands of races opposed to Islam, while the Moslems possess the 
traits and influences which lead to decay and ultimate extinction. 

Even the chief offices of the Empire are no longer controlled by 
Turks. Says the author of " Stamboul and Modem Turkdom " : 
" While the level of the intellectual cultivation of the Turks was 
sinking deeper from year to year, the force necessaiy for the ad- 
ministration of the State was likewise in constant depreciation, so. 
that the Government had to avail itself of European vigor, and re- 
cruit the personality of its offices from among the Christian popula- 
tions ; and thus the number of Christian officers has increased every 
year since Sultan Abdul Medjid." The design was at first to emr 
ploy such persons in routine work, without giving them positions of 
responsibility and influence ; but this has been abandoned under the 
pressure of necessity. ISTow, there are a large number of Christian 
officers employed in every ministry ; and in some bureau, a^ in 
30 



562 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



those of Customs and Foreign Affairs, the Christians have numerically 
half the appointments, and an overwhelming majority of those 
which require capacity. In all the provinces where the Chi"istians 
form a considerable fraction of the population, are Christian higher 
officers. Within ten years an Armenian has been Minister of 
Public Works ; in 1877 an Armenian was Minister of Trade ; Greek 
under-secretaries were employed in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs 
and Instruction, an Armenian in the Ministry of Justice ; the under- 
Governors in Crete and Epirus, and the Governor-General of the 
Archipelago, were Greeks ; and the Governors of the Lebanon since 
1860 have been Catholics. The same work from which we have just 
quoted proceeds, in illustration of the growing sterility of the 
Turkish official aristocracy, to show how, with only a few excep- 
tions, those persons in high positions who have distinguished them- 
selves by their intelligence, talents, and capacity, are not of the 

Stamboul race," as follows : The father of Ahmed Yefik Pasha 
was a Jew converted to Islam, his mother a Greek ; Grand Yizier 
Edhem Pasha is a Greek, who fell into the hands of the Turks when 
a boy, at the catastrophe of Scio in 1822 ; Subhi Pasha is of Morean 
or Peloponnessian stock, and is the son of a Greek woman ; Miinif 
Effendi, Minister of Instruction, is an Arab from Aintab ; the de- 
ceased Grand Yizier, Mehemed Pasha, was of Cypriote descent ; 
the ex-Grand Yizier, Mehemed Rushdi Pasha, was from Sinope ; 
Midhat Pasha, from Widin ; the family of the Khedive of Egypt 
from Kavala in Macedonia. 

A book has been published in Constantinople since the beginning 
of the present year, called " The Cause of the Misfortunes,"^ which 
gives, from a Turkish point of view, a sad picture of the condition 
of the Empire and its decay within the last twenty years. The au- 
thor, Ahmed Midhat Effendi, is attached to the Young Turkish 
party. He was too young at the time the leaders of the party were 
sent into exile in 1867, to receive the attention of the Government, 
but when Midhat Pasha succeeded Mahmoud I^edim Pasha as Grand 
Yizier, in 1872, he started a paper, the first number of which con- 
tained an article prescribing what the new Grand Yizier ought to do 
to retrieve the errors of his predecessor, whicli was expressed in so 
pointed a style that the journal was promptly suppressed. lie is 



* Uess-i Inkylab ; first part ; from the Crimean war to the accession of Sultan Abdul 
Hamid II. By Ahmed Midhat EfEendi ; Constantinople, 1295~a.d. 1878. 



THE DOOM OF TURKEY, 



now principal editor of the Takwim-i Wakaje, or State Gazette. 
He regards the rule of Abdul Aziz as having been extremely disas- 
trous to Turkey, and the period as having been one of decided de- 
cline, and makes some startling exposures of the demoralization 
which prevailed in different departments of the public service. The 
Sultan himseK was, in temperament and in regard to all points of 
ceremonial, a typical Oriental despot, a representative of a class of 
characters which it was thought had disappeared under the contact 
of European influences, even from Turkey. He allowed no relaxa- 
tion in his presence or as toward him of the honors amounting to de- 
votion, which were due to him as Caliph of Islam and Padishah of the 
Ottoman Empire. Every one who approached him was required to 
bow to the ground forty times ; no one was permitted to look him in 
the face. He would not allow any one but himself to be called Aziz ; 
and if he had to sign the appointment or removal of an officer who 
was named Aziz, he would have the name changed in the decree to 
Izzet or something else. All documents, even those which related 
to the most insignificant affairs, must be profuse in expression of 
praises of him, and the invocation of blessings upon him, otherwise 
they would receive no attention. An example of the quality of the 
administration of aflairs during this period is given in the recital of 
the fact that when the bonds for the consoKdated loan were printed 
in Paris, a considerable number of them were issued bearing dupli- 
cates of the same number. The matter could not be concealed, and 
the officers charged with the printing were arrested. J^o further 
steps were taken to punish them, and the only inconvenience they 
ever suffered was that they were subjected to a short sequestration 
in their houses. 

The futility of any hopes that may be entertained that the regen- 
eration of the Turks can be accomplished through any efforts of 
their own, is exemplified by the narrow-minded views and the big- 
oted partisanship of this work, which, written by one of the most 
active members of the party of reform to ascertain and define the 
causes of the evils with which the Empire is afflicted, might be ex- 
pected to embody their most advanced views respecting the future 
of their nation. Yet the work, while it is full of high-sounding 
phrases respecting the freedom and equality of all the people, with- 
out distinction of faith, abounds also in expressions and peculiarities 
of phraseology which show that no substantial significance is intended 
by these beautiful words, and that the Young Turks still intend to 



564 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



look upon their Christian fellow-citizens as blemishes on an otherwise 
beautiful body, and to give them nothing real if they can help it. 
It lauds polygamy as the most glorious privilege of Islam, and while 
it condemns the trade in negro slaves, it upholds the traffic in white 
girls for Moslem harems as one of the precious treasures and a pal- 
ladium of the Empire. If this is the best programme that the men 
of new ideas have to propose for their country, how little have we to 
expect from those who still avow their attachment to all the old ways. 

The best examples from which to judge the condition and char- 
acter of the Ottomans may be drawn from Asia Minor, where they 
still live in their purity, and are isolated from foreign contact. 
There they have not been contaminated by modern ideas, have not 
been affected in any way by the pressm*e and competition of Em'o- 
peans, which has forced an unnatural and spasmodic semblance of 
activity upon the Turks at Constantinople. Whatever traits they 
may show in that country are the fruits of their own nature and the 
workings of their system, which have been going on for six hmidi-ed 
years without being hastened or hindered by any external influences. 
Several accounts have been recently given of this region by travel- 
ers and residents, all of which coiToborate each other. Among 
them is a very interesting picture by a French engineer, M. Auguste 
Choisy, who traveled through Asia Minor to study the ruins with 
which it is dotted, contained in his book " L'Asie Mineure et les 
Turks en 1875 " (Asia Minor and the Turks in 1875). We have 
every reason to consider his observations impartial, for his errand 
had no reference to politics or religion, and the French, not hav- 
ing for many years taken any active part in the discussions of the 
Eastern Question, are not warped by the partisan prepossessions 
which infect the views of the English, Germans, and Kussians. 
His account is a sad one of ruin, desolation, indolence, thriftless- 
ness, and poverty. The country, which was formerly one of the 
most prosperous and flourishing in the world, is wholly destitute ol 
roads ; trade hardly exists, and what little there is, is prosecuted by 
barter ; and the people are given up to lassitude and indifierence, 
try to mend nothing, and accept misfortune, decay, and ruin as 
part of the natural course of events which it is useless to oppose. 
The evidences of a diminishing population prevail widely. Where 
a few years ago were prosperous cities, are now to be seen only 
clusters of miserable huts ; offices are venal, the administration of 
justice is corrupt. An important lawsuit was the topic of conver- 



THE DOOM OF TURKEY. 



565 



satioR at one of tl^e khans, or inns, where the traveler stopped, and 
the drift of the inquiries was as to which of the parties would be 
able to give the most bakshish. " It is a business to be a witness, 
a speculation to be a judge.*' The people view such spoliations as 
a matter of course, and give their bakshish without complaining. 
In a district that was infested with robbers, to M. Choisy's inquiry 
why the people did not call for military assistance, the answer was 
returned that it was enough for them to have the robbers to deal with 
without being also exposed to plunder by the soldiery. At another 
place the people were suffering from a scarcity of fuel, while only a 
few miles away wood was abundant. This would have been reme- 
died in any country enjoying respectable facilities for trade and 
moderately passable roads, but here — and the same is the case in 
nearly every part of the Turkish Empire — every mountain ridge 
forms an impassable barrier, on one side of which famine may pre- 
vail, with no means of relieving it out of the abundance which may 
be existing on the other side. The Turks are characterized by this 
author as thoroughly indifferent beings, who vegetate from day to 
day in perfect carelessness, bring all manner of evil upon them- 
selves by their negligence, and then when the culmination of the 
misfortunes they have induced comes upon them, will exclaim, " It 
is the will of Allah, so it is written." They comprehend nothing 
of the thirst for knowledge, the spirit of progress, the struggles for 
improvement characteristic of the Western people, and have no 
appreciation of the value of time, but will delay and dally, though 
an emergency of life may be pending. They may be stirred up to 
exertions, and made to work with great activity and pains for a 
short time, but such spells are spasmodic with them and anomalous, 
and are soon over, when they subside into their former indolence. 
They are ready to make promises, and even to plan enterprises, but 
their promises go unfulfilled and their enterprises are never carried 
out, because their normal apathy overcomes them again before any- 
thing is done. 

Another picture, quite similar in its outlines, is given by the Eev. 
Dr. Edward Rigg, a well-known missionary of the American Board 
at Sivas, in Asia Minor, in an article upon this especial subject, 
which he contributed to the Presbyterian Quarterly and Prince- 
ton Remeio for July, 18Y6. ISTo foreigner probably has had a better 
opportunity to make himself acquainted with the internal condition 
of this part of the Empire, for Dr. Rigg has lived at Sivas for many 



566 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



years, engaged in an occupation which brings him into friendly con- 
tact with all classes of the people. He describes, first, the material 
interests of the country as in a state of decay. This was illustrated 
in fact by the absolute prostration of that part of the land which 
had been recently visited by famine at the time his article was writ- 
ten, and which the mismanagement of the official administration 
rather aggravated than remedied. Trade, he says, is prostrate. 
Every one is in debt, so universally and so much, that it has become, 
in a measure, the habit to regard debt as a natural condition. The 
obligations bearing twelve per cent, interest, most of the people 
stagger for life under the oppressive burden, have no hope of re- 
lieving themselves from it, and generally never think of trying to 
do so. The system of fixed prices is unknown outside of the capi- 
tal. An absolute want of confidence prevails in all business trans- 
actions. Deceit and falsehood are current everj^where to such an 
extent that every one is a habitual har ; artfulness is taught even in 
the family, and the detection of a falsehood involves only the shame of 
having managed so awkwardly as to be found out. Kothing is ever 
committed to writing if it can possibly be avoided, and ignorance of 
the first principles of mercantile science characterizes the entire 
people. 

Indolence and unskillfidness mark all agricultural and industrial 
operations. The old crooked stick is still used to stir the ground 
instead of the plow ; threshing-machines have been introduced, but 
find no favor, the people preferring to follow the old way of tread- 
ing out the grain with oxen, even though a better way may be 
within their reach. The crops are still confined to the one or two 
kinds of grain that have been cultivated from time immemorial, 
and farmers limit their tillage to the fields their fathers dug ; while 
the climate and soil would permit the addition of a great variety of 
productions to the crops, and rich fields are within the reach of al- 
most every one, which he could easily add to his cultivated estate and 
till, if he would. While mineral resources of unknown extent and 
variety exist, no effort is made to develop them. Iron is brought 
from Europe at great expense for transportation, to be worked up 
in a blacksmith-shop which maybe standing right over an iron mine. 
A fine mine of copper exists at Harpoot, from which the ore is 
hauled two hundred miles to Forcat to be smelted, because the fur- 
nace happens to be there, and no one has thought to put up a furnace 
at Harpoot, although no reason exists why it should not be done. 



THE DOOM OF TURKEY. 



567 



This inertness among the people is promoted by the incapacity 
and weakness of the Government. The reforms which the Sultans 
have promised seem not to have reached Asia Minor at all, and the 
attempts of the Government at refonn and retrenchment, says Dr. 
Rigg, " would be ludicrous in the extreme were it not for the mel- 
ancholy light which they cast on the threatening chasm, on whose 
brink the country stands." The most hopeless weakness and cor- 
ruption are shown in the local and provincial governments. Justice 
is never administered simply for justice's sake. " It is impossible to 
convey to the mind of any one who has not actually seen it, any idea 
of the utter prostitution of the very name of government in the pro- 
vincial towns, or the bold effrontery with which the highest officers 
will shift their ground from one untenable falsehood to another in 
dodging the performance of the plainest duties." The incapacity of 
the officers was strikingly exemplified in the case of the famine al- 
ready referred to. At first the existence of famine was denied, in 
the face of the multitudes that were perishing ; then, when denial 
could no longer avail, the time was spent in making out a formal 
statement of the case, and haggling about the manner in which the 
aid given should be distributed. When aid was at last sent to the 
country from foreign lands, those who sent and distributed it, in- 
stead of being thanked, were charged with bad motives and called 
hard names by the jealous officials. Even the mixed tribunals of 
Mohammedans and Christians which the Government has introduced, 
afford no practical relief from misgovernment, for even the Chris- 
tian members of them " are, almost without exception, induced by 
cupidity, fear, lack of self-respect, and general unfitness for seK- 
government, to retain their seats and salaries by yielding passive 
assent to all the machinations of their Turkish associates, and with 
closed eyes and placid countenances, affix their seals to all papers 
offered them." 

The contemplation of social and religious conditions yields a simi- 
lar disheartening result. "Habits transmitted from a nomadic, 
tent-dwelling ancestry, cause the people to dwell huddled together 
in naiTOW quarters, where filth, disease, and vice grow uncontrol- 
lable. Poverty and ignorance so rivet the chains of those habits,, 
that even improved circumstances in these respects fail to correct 
them. The present age undoubtedly sees a wonderful waking up 
and reaching forth toward education ; but even this is only a small 
movement as compared with the mass of the people." 



568 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Dr. Kigg ascribes the origin of all those evils to the creed of 
Mohammed, which has demoralized even the Christians of the 
country by teaching them to lie and cheat nnder the guise of right- 
eously evading oppression and tyranny. It is, he says, the source of 
every woe, which palsies every effort at reform throughout the 
Empire, and forbids the hope of Turkey ever taking its stand 
among the civilized nations. 

These accounts are confirmed by the testimony of other travelers 
who have recently visited Turkey. The German Baron Yon 
Schweiger-Lerchenfeld, in his book, "Unter dem Halbmonde" 
(Under the Crescent), published in 18T6, which embodies the 
results of his personal observations in many provinces, describes 
the condition of affairs everywhere prevailing as giving testimony 
of "frightful certainty" of the rapid decay of the Empire, of 
general stagnation, of the total demorahzation of the Government 
and all of its organs, of tlie absolute unfitness of the ruling race. 
Mr. James Bryce, who has recently published an accoimt of his 
travels through Causasia to Mount Ararat, and his return by way 
of Poti, on the Black Sea, and steamer, says of the Turkish Pontic 
coasts* : " There is hardly a sail on the sea, hardly a village on the 
shores, hardly a road by which commerce can pass into the interior. 
You ask the cause, and receive from every one the same answer : 
misgovernment, or, rather, no government; the existence of a 
power which does nothing for its subjects, but stands in the 
way when there is a chance of their doing something for them- 
selves." 

Capt. Burnaby, the author of that popular book, "A Eide to 
Khiva,'' and no friend to the Russians, has lately traveled through 
Asiatic Turkey, and published an account of his observations in a 
book entitled "A Ride Through Asia Minor." In this work, he 
says that the vast resources of the country are almost entirely 
neglected. There are mines, and no one works them ; there are 
soils where almost every product w^anted by civilized man might 
be grown in abundance, but nobody cultivates them. " There are 
no means of communication between place and place. The taxa- 
tion is very heavy ; the Courts of law, if not closed to the Chris- 
tians, are yet of little protection to them ; the Government does 
little or nothing for the people, and what may be squeezed out of 



* Transcaucasia and Ararat. London, 1877. 



THE DOOM OF TURKEY. 



569 



the provinces is sent to Constantinople ; but the Government is not 
oppressively tyrannical. 

The attachment of the African dependencies to Turkey has been 
weakened, till it is now only of the most slender character. 
Formerly, the direct rule of the Empire extended over the whole 
northern coast of Africa, except the States of Fez and Morocco ; 
now, Algiers has become a French province, Egypt and Tunis have 
cast off all but a nominal allegiance, and the only parts of the once 
extensive Turkish dominions which remain wholly loyal are Fezzan 
and Tripoli. Egypt, the most important dependency of the whole 
Empire, has been almost completely withdrawn, except in name, 
from Turkish dominion, and is at present halting between inde- 
pendence and subjection to British influences. Twice, during the 
present century, the integrity — almost the existence — of the Empire 
was threatened by the rebellion of the Yiceroy, Mehemet Ali. The 
present Yiceroy has been able to gain from the Sultan the title of 
Khedive, or hereditary Prince, and has, by a special decree from 
the Porte, had the order of succession changed in favor of his eldest 
son, as against the claims of his brother, who is the regular heir 
under the Mohammedan law. He is ambitious for independence, 
and has pursued a policy looking toward it during his whole reign. 
While he still continues to pay a tribute to the Porte, and has 
responded with a contingent to its call for troops, he has been 
engaged in great national enterprises, and in wars for conquest, 
without reference to his suzerain. With extensive works of inter- 
nal improvement, with manufacturing establishments scattered all 
over the land, with Courts after the European model sitting at 
Cairo and Alexandria, he has advanced considerably toward pro- 
viding the machinery and some of the requisites for an independent 
administration and a self-existing State. His great conquests in the 
interior of Africa have given his territories the dimensions of a 
great State. Thus Egypt has grown, at the expense of the authority 
of the Sovereign Empire, and is watching for a favorable moment 
to throw off its allegiance entirely. ISTevertheless, Egypt is in no 
condition for independence. The fatal diseases of Mohammedanism 
have impaired its vitality, and, while it has experienced a marvel- 
ous development in some points, it has been subjected to cor- 
responding exhaustion in others. The domestic enterprises of the 
Khedive have imposed fearful burdens upon the people, who can 
not endure the weight of taxation and labor that are laid upon 



570 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



tliem, and his wars are depleting the country of its best men, of 
whom it has not too many to spare. The same enterprises have 
imposed a debt upon the State far beyond its ability to sustain it, 
in consideration of which the Suez Canal has substantially passed 
into the hands of the English, and nearly all the productive re- 
sources of the country have been mortgaged to English and French 
creditors. The improvements remain to Egypt, and the spirit of 
enterprise which has been awakened — which will be kept up by 
foreign speculators — but all of its available resources are in foreign 
hands. The English look upon Egypt as, next to India, their near- 
est special interest, and are determined to have a potent voice in 
the decision of its fate. Whether Turkey keeps a part of its Euro- 
pean provinces, or loses them all, Egypt is destined soon to pass out 
of its hands. Its most probable fate will be to become an English 
protectorate. 

The Porte will not be able to retain Tunis long after it shall have 
lost Egypt. The relation of this dependency, which is at present, 
except as to the payment of a tribute and the furnishing of a small 
contingent in war, chiefly nominal, is not likely to be maintained 
long after the Porte has been seriously weakened and the more 
powerful intervening State has fallen away. 

Tripoli is still governed bj^ a Yiceroy appointed immediately by 
the Porte, and who is as subject to the orders of the central Govern- 
ment as one of its provincial officers at Constantinople. It is a 
small State, in respect to population, and will count for very httle 
in any question atfecting the destinies of the Empire. 

The Bedouins of Syria and Mesopotamia and the settled Arabs 
of I^orthern and Western Arabia form a large proportion of the 
Turkish subjects in Asia. They are held to their allegiance by the 
tradition of the Sultan's great power. When this tradition is broken 
by a decisive defeat, they will be no longer to be depended upon. 
The Bedouins dream already, it is said, of a great Bedouin Empire, 
which is to be set up in Syria after the Turks have been defeated 
by the Eussians, and the Kussians have in turn been driven away 
by the Bedouin hosts.* In the Sherif of Mecca they have a prince 
of the family of Mohammed, which the Sultan is not, who can set up 
claims to their allegiance superior to those of the Sultan. 

*Ilev. Dr. D. H. Jessup, Missionary at Beyrut, in Foreign Mismnary (Presbyterian 
Board of Missions) for April, 1877. 



THE DOOM OF TURKEY. 



The review of the condition of the Turkish Empire in the light 
of the events which are now taking place, clearly indicates that all 
of the European provinces will, at no distant period, be converted 
into European, Christian States ; that Constantinople will again be- 
come a European city ; that the African dependencies will pass into 
the condition either of independent States or of Eui'opean depend- 
encies ; that Armenia will become Eussian ; that the Arabs will 
fall away soon after Turkey has been sensibly weakened and attempt 
an independent sovereignty of their own ; and that the Turks will 
lie diiven to their home in Asia Minor, where, hemmed in on one 
side by the Russians, and on another by the future owners of Syria, 
and crowded by the enterprising Greeks on the sea-coast, they will 
live out what remains to them of national life, an insignificant State, 
without power to molest any one seriously and exposed to a process 
of gradual wearing away by the pressure and friction of the enter- 
prising States which will suiTOund them. 

The London Times recently expressed the opinion that the re- 
sult of the war, by causing the Turks to give up their hostile Euro- 
pean Provinces, while they receive a tribute from them, and by 
concentrating the Mussulmans around Constantinople and in Asia 
Minor, will be to enable them to create a new Ottoman power ten 
times stronger than if it were spread over a vast, badly-organized, and 
hostile territory. This might be the case were the Tm-ks capable 
of becoming a progressive nation, or of being regenerated. The 
facts which we have cited show, however, that all the essential 
qualities of the Turkish character and religion, and the features 
which are at the roots of their life and social condition, are against 
any such transformation taking place. While they remain Turks 
they must continue to go down ; and the revival of their race can 
be effected only at the expense of casting away everything that dis- 
tinguishes them from other races. 



CHAPTEE II. 



THE NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 
I. BULGAEIANS AND GREEKS. 

The Nationalities that are to Rule Turkey— The Bulgarians, Greeks, Rmnanians, Ser- 
vians — Latent Traits of the Bulgarians — The Ancient Bulgarians — Relations of Bul- 
garia and the East Roman Empire — The Bogomils — The Second Bulgarian Kingdom ; 
its Culmination and its Speedy Fall— Four Centuries and a half of Oppression and 
Darkness— The most Wretched People in Europe at the Beginning of this Century— 
The Marvelous Awakening and Speedy Advance— The First Printed Bulgarian Book 
— Beginning of a Movement for Education — The First Popular Schools — What has 
been Accomplished in Fifty Tears — Newspapers — Books — School-books and Liter- 
ary Works — The Ecclesiastical Struggle and the "Victory of the Bulgarians — The 
Capacity of the People Proved— Opinions of InteUigent Travelers— Kauitz and Von 
Hellwald— They are Destined to Become a Leading Nation of the Earth— The Claims 
of the Greeks— Their Noble Ancestry— What the World Owes to Greek Learning- 
The Greeks the Ancient Settlers of Turkey— The Modern Greeks not Hellenized Slavs 
— The West Responsible for the Conquest of the Greeks — Tenacity of the Grecian 
Character — Greece During and Since the Revolution — Reasonableness of the Demands 
of Greece for Territorial Expansion— Attitude of Greece in 1876-' 77— Advance into 
Thessaly in February, 1878 — A Mistake — The Adjustment of Grecian Interests more 
Practicable than in case of any other Nationality of Turkey— Attitude of the Greeks 
toward the Slavs— Foreign Views on the Expansion of Greece— Earl Derby's Ex- 
pression. 

When Turkish rule has come to an end, other nationalities will 
soon supplant the Turks in the possession and places of influence 
and as the predominant races of the country which they inhabit. 
The principal difficulty in the settlement of the Eastern Question 
so far has been to determine who should take the place of the 
Moslems as the rulers of their European provinces. This difficulty 
is now likely to be removed in time, in a natural way, and by the 
operation of natural forces which will eventually work out their 
own solution, whether the powers are willing to agree to it or not. 
The treaty of peace has already put the Balkan peninsula into the 
hands of the nationalities, which form the masses of its population. 
The question that now remains to be solved is not whether or even 
how soon these nationalities will come into complete possession of their 
inheritance, but how it shall be divided among them. A study of the 
map of nationalities and religions will give the reader a fair idea 
of the general course that must be followed by the Hues of division ; 




UP A TREE. 



NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 



a course which, except as to the Turks, has been fairly regarded in 
adjusting the boundaries of the new Bulgaria. 

An objection which has always heretofore been opposed with 
force against the division of Turkey among its nationaHties and 
their erection into separate powers, has been that they were, and 
would continue to be for a long time, too weak and too backward in 
the arts of civilization to be self-sustaining States, and would neces- 
sarily, therefore, exist in dependence upon some strong power and 
be its puppets ; and that this power, whatever it might be, would 
be more dangerous to the peace of Europe than Turkey had been. 
The new States themselves only can give the answer to this objec- 
tion by developing and exhibiting their capacity for independent 
government. We may even now form an estimate of the extent to 
which they may be able to do this, and of the speed with which 
they are likely to accomplish it, by a study of the character of the 
nationalities, and of the account which they have given, and are giv- 
ing, of themselves. This we may do by an examination of what 
they achieved in the past, before the Turks crushed them, and of 
the efforts which they have put forth in our own day for their 
national generation. 

Pour nationalities compete to share the control of the Balkan 
peninsula — the Bulgarians, the Greeks, the Servians, and the Ru- 
manians. The Bulgarians and Servians belong to the Slavic race ; 
the Greeks and Rumanians form each a distinct race. The desires of 
the Bulgarians and Greeks for territorial autonomy and independ- 
ence could be satisfied without interfering with the interests of any 
European States. The claims of the Rumanians and Servians, on 
the other hand, involve the readjustment of boundaries, would 
require, if they were fully conceded, a considerable reduction of the 
territories of the Austrian Empire, and would threaten a dissolution 
of the Empire itself, with the overthrow of Magyar supremacy in 
the South. 

The new principality of Bulgaria, as established by the treaty of 
San Stefano, will include more than half of the territory of Euro- 
pean Turkey, aside from Ser\da and Rumania, and will contain about 
74,400 square miles, an extent about equal to that of the States of 
Ohio and Indiana, and from 5,000,000 to 5,500,000 inhabitants. 
Of the rest of Turkey, 59,500 square miles are in Bosnia, Albania, 
and the Grecian provinces, and 8,500 square miles around Constanti- 
nople. 



576 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



TLe Bulgarian boundaries have been skillfully stretched out by 
the Russian diplomats, so as to indude nearly every part of the 
country in which there is any considerable proportion of Bulgarians, 
and have been fixed in the South, often in disregard of the claims 
of the Greek nationality, so as to embrace an ample stretch of coast 
and commodious harbor privileges on the ^gean Sea. The Bul- 
garians constitute about four-fifths of the population in the western 
part of the territory ; the Turks are settled in nearly equal numbers 
with the Bulgarians in the eastern part ; three-fifths of the people 
in the Macedonian districts are of Albanian or Illyrian origin, and 
parts of the sea- coast are wholly settled by Greeks. 

The Bulgarians appear in the present times under unfavorable 
lights, and show to superficial observers but little promise of the 
brilliant future which their friends predict is in store for them. The 
majority of travelers give very unfavorable accounts of them, and 
only a few have had the penetration to discover, or the courage to 
declare, that under the mask of stolid stupidity, indolence, and half 
barbarism which Turkish oppression S,nd Greek repression have 
caused them to wear for centuries, are hidden traits and faculties, 
which, if given a fair opportunity to develop themselves, would 
shortly place them among the foremost of the Slavic races. The 
Bulgarian peasants did much, it is true, during the war, by the atro- 
cities of which they were guilty, to discredit themselves and to lend 
an air of confirmation to the most that has been said against them. 
Those acts, however, in all their wickedness, were in reahty the 
natural workings of a reaction against the long oppressions under 
which they had suffered with a patience which has itself helped to 
condemn them, and were the symptoms of a morbid condition for 
which the Bulgarian nation had itself already applied the remedies, 
and from which it would probably have freed itself in a few years if 
there had been no war. 

That this nation has in it the elements out of which it may yet 
work a noble development of itself, is made probable against all ap- 
pearances, by the recollection of the character of the ancestry whom 
it boasts, and is confirmed by the view of the measures which the 
people have abeady taken to improve their condition. The ancient 
Bulgarians were a conquering people. They came down from the 
North like the other barbarian races which revolutionized Europe 
during the first thousand years of the Christian era, and were, by all 
accounts, the peers of the best of them. Having estabhshed them- 



NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 



selves in the region which they made their kingdom, their stock be- 
came intermingled with Slavic blood till they became in effect a 
Slavic race, bnt more warlike and more fierce than the otlier Slavs. 
The nation constituted an important and powerful kingdom for about 
three hundred years, till in the earlier part of the eleventh century 
it fell under the dominion of the Emperors at Constantinople. Dur- 
ing this period it was converted to Christianity, in the latter part of 
the ninth century ; and some literary activity was developed among 
the priests, who translated the Bible and a few of the classical authors 
into the Old Slavonic tongue, while the language of the people, the 
real Bulgarian language, had not yet been reduced to writing. At 
one time, the kingdom having been divided, the Emperor Nicephorus 
called in the Russians to help him conquer the eastern part to the 
Danube. The conquest having been achieved, the Russians settled 
upon the Balkans and turned their arms against the Empire. The 
Emperor called upon the Bulgarians to help him, and the Russians were 
expelled. The western kingdom maintained its independent exist- 
ence for forty years after the eastern one was subjected, in constant 
war with the Empire. At one time fifteen thousand Bulgarians are 
said to have been taken prisoners and blinded by the Greeks, except 
that about a hundred were left with one eye to lead their fellows back 
to their homes. The shock of the sight of his mutilated heroes killed 
the King, Samuel, and the whole kingdom then fell into the hands of 
the Greeks. The story of this atrocity is still told among the Bul- 
garian people, and helps to keep up the hatred of the Greeks, which 
is one of the distinctive features of their national life. 

Previous to this time the country had fallen largely under the 
influence of the Bogomils, a heretical sect corresponding to the 
Cathari and Albigenses of Western. Europe. Their doctrines were 
well suited to the disposition of the people. They set store upon a 
certain degree of education ; and the popular language of the Bul- 
garians being still unwritten, the Bogomils applied an alphabet to 
it, adapted it to literary uses, and gave the people the first books 
that tTiey could comprehend. These books consisted principally of 
Biblical and classical stories, and stories from the " Arabian N^ights," 
translated and modified so as to suit the popular tastes, with a few 
original works. The translations found their way into tlie neigh- 
boring countries, and through them, it is said, the Bosnians, Croats, 
Wallaehs, and Russians received their first knowledge of the pro- 
ductions of ancient Eastern literature. 



578 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The kingdom of Bulgaria again became independent in 1186. 
Under tlie Gzar Joannes II., from 1218 to 1241, its boundaries 
touched the three seas, the Adriatic, the JEgean, and the Black 
Seas, and its capital, Tirnova, was distinguished for its wealth and 
splendor. The virtues and independent spirit of the people had, 
however, been weakened by the unhealthy influences of foreign rule 
and association, and the State was distracted by the unintermitting 
quarrels between the adherents of the Orthodox Church and the 
Bogomils, often rising to bloody conflicts, in which one party or the 
other would not infrequently call in aid from abroad. Under the 
influence of this demoralization and dissension the State rapidly 
declined after the death of Joannes, until, after the defeat of the 
Servians in the battle of Kosovo, in 1389, it fell an easy prey to the 
Turkish conquerors. 

A barbarism which endured more than four centuries, and has as 
yet only begun to disappear, now settled upon the people. The 
Boyars embraced Mohammedanism to save their estates; the 
Bogomils were likewise won over to Islam through the influence 
of a heretical Mohammedan sect which had some sympathy with 
them in doctrine. With the Boyars, the people lost their leaders ; 
with the Bogomils they lost the bond which had held them in fel- 
low^ship. Their Church was made subject to the Patriarchate of 
Constantinople, and was delivered in effect to the control of the 
Fanariote Greeks (or the Greeks of Constantinople, called Fanariote 
after the quarter (Fanar) of the city which they inhabited), who 
were enemies of their nationality. Seldom, in the course of his- 
tory," says a recent writer,* " have one people acted toward another 
more execrably than did the Greeks in Turkey to their Bulgarian 
fellow-believers." They obtained concessions of privileges from the 
Porte, and used them in every possible w^ay for the repression of 
the Bulgarian nationality. The priestly offices were filled by Greeks 
or renegade Bulgarians, or were made matters of bargain and sale, 
so that the author from whom we have already quoted is impelled 
to say, with a semblance of truth, that although " many unwortliy 
priestly castes have ruled on the earth, none have been more so than 
the Greek priests of the Bulgarians. Their unscrupulousncss, their 
greediness, can not be described in words." They made a determined 
attack upon all the motives of the national spii'it, endeavored to de- 



* R. C. Franzos, in the AUgemeine Zeittcng, October, 1877. 



NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 



579 



stroy all the books and manuscripts which existed either in the Old 
Slavonic or in the popular tongue, and established a system of op- 
pression and plunder, which carried on even into the present century, 
left the Bulgarians little else than their bare life, but utterly failed 
to destroy their national feeling. 

The collections of the songs of the people current during this 
period which have been recently published bear evidences of the 
feelings which they entertained toward both their Turkish and 
Grecian oppressors, in many printed allusions to them and to the 
indignities which the people had to endure from them. Some of 
the braver men, refusing to submit to these oppressions, took refuge 
in the mountains, where they were known as Haiducs, and whence 
they kept up an unceasing guerrilla warfare against Turks and 
Greeks. They have been called robbers, but as they were accus- 
tomed to discriminate between friends and enemies, and always 
spared and often protected their own people, they are better en- 
titled to be ranked with the heroic defenders of Montenegro. 

At the beginning of the present century, no people in Europe 
were in a more wretched condition than the Bulgarians. Their 
nationality was regarded as a stigma. The people in the towns 
were Grecianized ; and whenever any one rose to a position in which 
he had an ambition to appear respectable and figure in society, it 
was the fashion for him to give his name a Greek form. The na- 
tive language was regarded as a barbaric tongue, and its use was 
confined to countrymen and dwellers in small towns. ISTothing was 
written in it, even the commercial and private correspondence being 
carried on in Greek, or if the Bulgarian language was used, it was 
written in Greek characters. The services of the churches were 
performed exclusively in Greek. A Russian traveler, Gregorovitch, 
who visited Ochrida, the ancient seat of the Bulgarian Church, 
could not find there any one who could read Slavic. 

The people who remained true to their nationality were isolated 
from each other ; they had no means of knowing how large a proportion 
of the population they formed, or how their countrymen Avho lived 
outside of their own neighborhood felt. Deprived of civilizing in- 
fluences they necessarily sunk lower. The priests, upon whom alone 
they could depend for instruction, were either hostile or ignorant 
like themselves. In many districts the people grew up without any 
knowledge of religion or worship, and became the victims of error 
and brutalizing influences. 
31 



58o 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The awakening from this condition has been marvelous, almost 
miraculous ; the results that have followed it have been rapid and 
extensive almost without example. 

A Bulgarian priest at Mount Athos, in 1Y62, composed a small 
Sloveno - Bulgarian History, of which several copies were made 
and circulated. Stoico Yladislavoff, who afterward became Sopro- 
nius, Bishop of Braca, saw one of the copies, and was induced 
to devote himself to the cultivation of his mother-tongue. He 
translated a number of popular works from the Greek, and in 1806 
published a book of Bulgarian Prayers, which was the first book 
ever printed in the modern Bulgarian language. The Greek war 
of independence, the revolt of the Hetarists in Wallachia, and the 
invasion of the country by the Russians in the war of 1828, all con- 
tributed their share toward rousing the national spirit. 

There were a few Bulgarian merchants and bankers at Bucharest, 
originating from the lower classes, who were not ashamed of their 
nationality, but were pained at the low esteem in which it was held. 
They decided to do what they could to improve it. They formed a 
society whose double object was to send Bulgarian youth to Vienna 
to be instructed, and to arouse a thirst for education among their 
countrymen at home. The association was well provided with 
means, and brought forth noticeable fruits in a short time. Its 
young students returned from school thoroughly imbued with 
national ideas. A Bulgarian primer containing reading lessons and 
pictures of an instructive character had been pubhshed in 1824 
Some of the students supplemented it with works of a more ad- 
vanced character, and others returned to their homes as teachers. 
The production of other books followed, in all of which adaptation 
to the need of the people for instruction was the first quality 
sought. It is remarkable and creditable to the character of the 
Bulgarians, and is, perhaps, one of the secrets of the success that has 
attended their literary and educational efibrts, that the first books 
which appeared, besides school-books, were grammars, dictionaries, 
cyclopedias, and histories. " We must not," said one of the leaders 
of this period, " write what wiU merely please, we must write what 
is useful. Schools ! by that sign only can we conquer ! " The first 
people's school was opened at Gabrova in 1835. The Fanariote 
priests opposed it, and tried to induce the Pasha to forbid it, but he 
replied, Learning is no sin." The second school was opened at 
Sistova in 1836, the third at Koprovitchtica in 1837. Fifty-three 



NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 



581 



primary schools had been establislied in 1845, besides the C(3n.tral 
Lyceum at PhilippopoJis. In 1873 there were in the province of 
Philippopolis, with a total Bulgarian Christian population of 390,000 
souls, three hundred and seventy high, preparatory, elementary, and 
girls' schools, with 402 teachers, and 13,885 boys and 2,615 girls as 
pnpils. Instruction is given free of cost, in all the branches of an 
ordinary common school education. Statistics are not accessible for 
the other provinces. 

The growth of Bulgarian journalism corresponds fairly with the 
development of the schools. The first Bulgarian periodical was a 
monthly, started in 1844, at Smyrna ; the first political journal was 
published at Leipzig in 1846. A daily paper was founded at Con- 
stantinople in 1849, which was for ten years the principal organ of 
the people, and fought bravely for them in the battle against the 
Greek ecclesiasticism. In 1876, fifty-one newspapers in the Bul- 
garian language had been started. Many of them had only a brief 
existence, but fourteen of them remained in 1875, including four 
political journals in Constantinople, oflicial papers at Rustchuk, 
Salonica, and Adrianople, two literary, one theological, and three 
technical papers, and the political organ of the emigrants at Bucha- 
rest. All but the political journals have been suspended since the 
war begun. The larger journals were well edited, with matter 
chosen to suit the tastes of their readers, who formed, as a whole, an 
interested and appreciative class ; they were very patriotic, and ex- 
erted a great influence. 

Literary works other than school-books began to appear about 
1840. In 1876, about five hundred such works had been published, 
some of them in editions numbering three or four thousand copies. 
About half the number are translations, among which are mentioned 
the poems of Bulwer and Byron, a part of Shakespeare, English 
governess-stories, sensational novels, German and French classical 
works, Bussian and Polish books. The original works are lyric 
poems, describing the popular life or deeds from the national history, 
or reflecting the national aspirations, and generally of a character 
promising a hopeful future for this kind of literary efibrt, and 
dramas, of which about forty have been published since 1870. A 
few novels have been published, the best known of which are the 
stories of Karaveloff and the historical novels of Bishop DrumoflP ; 
history is represented by four writers of reputation, and philological 
research by the works of three authors. 



582 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Considering what is the condition of the country, the Bulgarian 
authors enjoy a large clientage and are liberally supported. The 
people have a taste for reading, and gratify it ; and the Bulgarian 
patriot, it is said, considers it a sacred duty to buy books. 

The turning-point in the national development of the Bulgarians 
was reached when they gained from the Porte, against the strenu- 
ous opposition of the Fanariote G-reeks and of all the Fanariote 
influences, the freedom of their Church. The struggle which ended 
in this result was a long and severe one, and was well fitted to test 
the capacity for endurance of many a people who stand higher in 
the world's estimation. That the Bulgarians achieved so complete 
a victory as they have done, is not the least of the evidences which 
they have given of their capacity to constitute an independent and 
strong State. It was perceived, at the beginning of the efforts for 
improvement, that the most earnest and wisely-directed exertions 
of patriotic endeavor would fail to accomplish the object that was 
sought, while the Church was ruled by a hostile, anti-Bulgarian 
hierarchy, and the people were under the influence, in their homes 
and their closest relations, of a priesthood who would employ every 
means in their power to baffle the aims of the reformers. Accord- 
ingly, the emancipation of the Church was made one of the most 
essential and important objects of the new movement. In 1833, 
the people of Samokov and Skopie asked for the appointment of 
Bulgarian bishops, instead of the unworthy Greeks who had been 
removed from their sees, but other Greeks were sent them in their 
stead. In 1840, a Bulgarian, who had been appointed Bishop of 
Widin, died while he was gone to Constantinople, it is said, of 
poison. Ten years later, the attention of the Government was 
directed to the Bulgarian grievance by means of an insurrection 
which broke out near Widin, and the Patriarch was requested to 
consecrate a Bulgarian bishop. He consecrated one, but left him 
without a diocese. When the Porte called a ]!^'ational Assembly to 
consider the question of reforms in 1858, the ecclesiastics took care 
that no Bulgarians should obtain seats in the body, and the demand 
of the people for a voice in the appointment of their ecclesiastics 
was denied, because the Church, the ecclesiastics answered, recog- 
nized no difference of nationalities. At one time during the strug- 
gle, the Bulgarians sought a union with the Boman Catholic 
Church. The union was very nearly effected, by the help of ^^^apo- 
leon III. of France, in 1854, when England and Kussia interfered, 



XEIV STATES OF THE BALK AX PEXI.XSULA. 



583 



and stopped the negotiations. A general movement was instituted 
against the ranariote ecclesiastics in 1860. The bishops were 
driven ont from several cities, native bishops were p^o^'isionallJ 
appointed in their places, the Bulgarian langnage was introduced 
into the schools, and the Bulgarian congregation at Constantinople 
showed its approval of the revolutionary acts by refusing to recog- 
nize the election of a new Patriarch, which took place at about that 
time. The prayer for the Patriarch ceased to be repeated in the 
churches, his name was hooted at when it was mentioned, and the 
name of the Sultan was substituted in its place. The Government 
souo'ht to gain from the Patriarch concessions to the demands of the 
people, but assent was twice refused to its propositions. It then 
acted on its own account, and a firman was granted on the 2Sth of 
February, 1870, constituting the Bulgarian Church an independent 
Exarchate. A pastoral letter, full of extravagant, but sincere, ex- 
pressions of gratitude to the Sultan, announced the victory to the 
people. Bishop Anthrin, of 'Widin, was chosen Exarch in 1872. 
His journey to Constantinople to be consecrated was like a triumphal 
march. 

Some authors have ascribed to Eussia a larger share in the regen- 
eration of Bulgaria than it deserves. The contributions of Eussia 
to this work have been indirect, and have been given chiefly in the 
shape of the presence of military forces, and in such encouragement 
as the Panslavist agitations may have afforded in the awakening 
in the hearts of despondent Bulgarians the hope that their people 
might participate in the regeneration of the Slavic races, and in 
inspiring them with the motive to prepare themselves for the bright 
destiny that was painted for them. The Eussians, during the cam- 
paio-n of 1S2S, made fair promises to the Bulgarians of the aid and 
support which they would give them, which were rudely broken 
when the peace of Adrianople was concluded, a few weeks after- 
ward, ^vithout making any provisions for them. The Bulgarians 
were deceived by these promises into compromising themselves, bv 
engaging in movements for resistance to the Turks, only to be told 
bv Gen. Diebitch that he could do nothing of what he had under- 
taken to do for them, and to discover that they would have to settle 
with the Turks in the best way they could. So, again, they were 
misled by the persuasions of Russian agitators into the insurrec- 
tionary attempts of 1876, and, by the appearance of a Eussian army, 
into the disastrous outbreaks of 1877, to repent of their mistakes in 



584 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



mourning and suffering. All the active, real work of their regen- 
eration has been done by themselves, and Franzos asserts that not a 
single Great Russian has had any direct part in it. 

The value of the service which Russia has rendered the Bulgarians 
in delivering them from Turkish despotism can not be overesti- 
mated. It is the first real service that, with all its pretensions, it 
has ever performed for them. The best conclusion it can now make 
of its work will be to leave them alone to work out their own de- 
velopment in their own way and through their own resources. 
That Russian influence will not be beneficial to the best interests of 
the Bulgarians is shown by the history of past dealings of Russia 
with them, which have been marked by manifestations of a policy 
to denationalize Bulgaria, to discourage the national features of its 
literature, and to make the people Russian. This was exemplified 
several years ago, when the Russians, having induced a colony of 
Bulgarians to settle in Bessarabia, suppressed the use of their 
language in the schools, substituting the Russian language for it, 
and forbade the publication of a Bulgarian newspaper. The restric- 
tions upon the national life of the settlers were not removed till the 
colony, by the operation of the Treaty of Paris, passed under the 
rule of Rumania, when the Bulgarian language was restored. The 
jealousy of the powers, which is ever watchful to prevent the exten- 
sion of direct Russian power, and the strength of the newly-awakened 
national feelings of the Bulgarians, are probably too strong to permit 
such a policy being attempted with any hope of success in the new 
principality. 

A great impulse was given to the material progress of Bulgaria 
under the administration of Midhat Pasha. During this brief and 
exceptional period of good government, the province enjoyed such 
order as it had never known before, improvements were made, en- 
terprise was stimulated, industries were established, and a promise 
of prosperity appeared which was unexampled in the history of 
European Turkey. This improvement was quickened by the growth 
of the rejuvenated national spirit, and was aided by the settled habits 
of the people, who are almost universally spoken of as industrious 
and thrifty, with no inclination to drunkenness or wasteful vices, 
and prudent in their investments; so that the province became 
the richest and the most productive of revenues of any of the 
European possessions of Turkey. The succeeding administrations, 
although they were misconducted after the old fashion, did not de- 



NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 585 

prive the people of the advantages they had gained, or abate their 
progress, so that it was said that the Eussian soldiers were astonished 
when they entered the country they were called upon to deliver, to 
find that its people were better off, in many respects, than they were 
in their own homes. 

The Bulgarians have proved themselves worthy of the advantages 
they have gained. That they have fairly won their literary culture 
is shown by the number of their newspapers and books, which would 
not be published if they did not find readers and purchasers, not 
less than by the prosperity of their schools. In the schools they 
bear the most favorable reputation. The Protestant missionaries 
describe them as their best scholars, and as a people of extraordinary 
natural abilities. Kanitz speaks in the highest terms of their desire 
for education and practical sense, as shown by the fact that they will 
seek knowledge, without religious prejudice, wherever it may be 
got. He found those who had been instructed abroad to be people 
of unusual intelligence. He considers them superior to the Servians 
in qualifications for engineering and the industrial arts. Their rose- 
gardens in Rumelia, from which the attar of roses of the world's 
markets is derived, are among the most profitable agricultural fields 
of that province ; their industrial villages in the Balkans were among 
the most prosperous as well as the most beautiful towns of the Em- 
pire. Two of them, which have been destroyed by the Turks, Car- 
lova and Sopot, are described by a war correspondent as places which 
each member of a company who visited them after their destruction 
declared he would have chosen as a residence next after his own home. 
Kanitz says that we must look among them for the future industrial 
population of Turkey. Yon Hellwald and Beck, in their ''Die 
Heutigue Tiirkei " (The Turkey of To-day), say that they are " the 
most intelligent, and in a literary sense, the most cultivated people 
of European Turkey, in whose spiritual development they are 
certainly destined to take a great part." 

A people who can be described in such language, who are capable 
of manifesting such energy, and of doing so much for themselves 
as our record shows, can not be consigned to an ignoble future. 
The qualities they have developed, the advances they have made, in- 
dicate that with freedom they would become one of the leading 
nations of the East. Their progress has been suddenly and rudely 
interrupted, their country made desolate by war, and they have been 
put back materially many years. Their national aspirations, their 



586 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



desire for improvements, and tlieii' spirit of progress, however, re- 
main to them, and will command consideration in whatever adjust- 
ment may be made bearing on the future of the Empire. 

The Greeks constitute the most vigorous, the most enterprising, 
and the most cultivated nationality of the Turkish Empire, and 
must always command a first place in the consideration of questions 
relating to its future. They claim a hearing by reason of their 
numbers, influence, and social standing ; by reason of their pro- 
gressive spirit ; of the obligations which the Great Powers have 
incurred toward the kingdom of Greece, and of what they are 
capable of doing for the regeneration and civilization of the de- 
caying Turkish provinces. They can also appeal to history, can 
call to mind the obligations which civilization owes to their race, 
and can show that they are the rightful heirs to the greater part of 
the provinces which the Turk has so wretchedly misgoverned since 
the Western Powers permitted him to subjugate them. • 

ITo nation ah ty in the world has a prouder record than the ances- 
tors of the Greeks. Civihzation and liberty grew up among them 
and flourished to a degree that has never been excelled in any other 
nation till the present century, l^o equals have ever been found 
to their best works of literature and art. They originated the 
training and the methods of study which have given the impulse 
to all modern progress in learning and discovery ; so that there is 
hardly a good gift. which the world enjoys to-day to which they 
have not directly or indirectly contributed. They transmitted their 
civilization and learning to the Komans, and the Pomans distrib- 
uted it over their world. While Western Europe lost its knowledge 
in the Middle Ages, the Greeks preserved theirs at Constantinople ; 
and the scattering of Greeks over Europe consequent upon the con- 
quests of the Turks, is mentioned by the historians as one of the 
prime motives to the revival of learning in the fifteenth and six- 
teenth centuries. 

The Greeks were the first civihzed people who settled in the 
European parts of Turkey ; and they are the first civilized people 
who lived within the historical period in a part of its Asiatic terri- 
tory. Their first exploration of the Black Sea and opening of it to 
navigation, lies back of history in the mythological period. Con- 
stantinople was a Greek city, known as Byzantium, hundreds of 
years before Constantine rebuilt it and renamed it, having been 
founded in the seventh century before Christ. The western prov- 



NEIV STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 587 

inces of European Turkey are called in current books and writings 
by the names Thessaly, Epiriis, and Macedonia, which were given 
them by their early Greek inhabitants. In most of these ancient 
G-reek possessions the people of that nationality still form the major 
part of the population, and are the leaders of enterprise. A Ger- 
man author, Fallmerayer, has undertaken to show that the modern 
Greeks are not the genuine descendants of the ancient people, but 
are of a mixed Illyrian and Slavic stock, who have settled in the 
Grecian countries and become Hellenized. His view is contradicted 
by all the features of modern Greek life, which resemble in a strik- 
ing degree those of the ancient Greeks, and give the most positive 
testimony in favor of the theory of a direct legitimate descent. It 
is true that some parts of the Grecian countries have been largely 
colonized by Slavs, and that traces of their settlement have been 
left in some of the local names and in a few Slavic traits which 
survive. But, even in these instances, it is the Greeks who have 
absorbed the Slavs. The type is predominantly Greek, and the 
Slavic features which have been retained are only those survivals of 
casual peculiarities which seem always to remain when one people 
have been for a long time associated with another, as historical me- 
mentoes of the contact. 

The West owes a reparation to the Greeks and to Christianity for 
allowing them to be driven out of Constantinople. The Turks might 
have been repelled and driven back into Asia on several occasions 
had the Western States combined to assist the Emperors ; but the 
selfish interests and religious jealousies of professedly Christian States 
kept them aloof, and they coldly witnessed the expulsion of their 
fellow-believers and the planting of an anti-Christian standard in 
what had been the stronghold of the faith. So strongly did re- 
ligious differences make themselves felt, that Greek merchants visit- 
ing the Latin countries, were accustomed, it is said, to disguise 
themselves as Turks in order to secure for themselves better treat- 
ment than they could have received as Eastern Christians. The 
piratical expeditions which were fitted out by the Christian knights 
of those days against the infidel, found their most profitable victims 
in the Greek towns, which were regarded as legitimate spoil because 
they belonged to the country of the enemy. On the other hand, 
Greeks, as Christians, had to sufier in Mohammedan countries for 
the indignities which the Moors endured in Spain.* 



» W. E. Gladstone, the "Hellenic Factor," 



588 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The Greeks, in common with the other conquered peoples, suf- 
fered severely by the exaction of the tribute of children out of which 
the Janissaries were formed, which depleted their manly vitality to 
the lowest degree compatible with continued existence. "When the 
tribute ceased, the people being allowed to enjoy their natural in- 
crease, immediately began to gain in strength and determination. 

The Greeks exhibited the qualities of a brave manhood in an emi- 
nent degree in then- Revolution. " It was," says Finlay, who has 
written its history, " a revolution of the people, in which they ex- 
hibited a tenacity and valor not less than that of the American colo- 
nists in their famous revolt." Mr. Gladstone describes the revolution- 
ists as of a race, to whom as yet, except in the Black Mountain (or 
Montenegro), no equals in valor have appeared among the enslaved 
populations of the East." The people fought alone, too, for they 
had but few leaders and only the assistance of individuals from 
abroad. 

The people of Greece have done remarkably well since they gained 
then* independence, especially when we consider how small is the 
State in which they have to work, and remember that it has been 
only about fifteen years since they have had a Government that has 
been able to give them any real help. The cause of good govern- 
ment has advanced steadily, having been promoted rather than hin- 
dered by the peaceful revolutions of 1843 and 1862 ; respect for the 
laws is becoming the habit of the people, and the kingdom enjoys a 
steady growth of population and wealth, the population having in- 
creased from 650,000 in 1834 to 1,238,000 in 1870, and the revenue 
from $1,375,000 in 1833 to $3,849,000 in 1873. 

Equally great has been the spiritual advancement of the Greeks. 
The effort to restore the spirit of the past, to cultivate its literature 
and revive its language, has been responded to in a manner that 
shows that the people appreciate their high ancestry, and intend to 
try to make themselves worthy of it. Strenuous efforts have been 
made for the advancement of education, not only within the King- 
dom itself, but in all the Grecian districts of the Turkish Empire. 
While, in 1830, there were within the Kingdom only seventy-one 
schools, with 6,721 scholars, there were, in 1874, 1,227 primary 
schools, with 81,449 scholars, besides nearly 200 secondary schools, 
a university at Athens, and several theological schools which are 
under the special care of the clergy. The numerous schools, both 
primary and higher schools, established by the Greeks in Mace- 



NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA, 589 

donia, Thessaly, and Epirus — at all points where there is a consider- 
able Greek population — are mentioned favorably by travelers, and 
are generally spoken of as among the best schools in the Empire. 
Seminaries for teachers, furnishing instruction quite equal to that 
given in the best normal schools of Europe, have recently been 
established in Macedonia, whose pupils are already teaching in the 
elementary schools of the provinces, greatly to the improvement of 
the standard of education among them. The result is that the 
Greeks in the Turkish provinces, as well as in the Kingdom, are 
far advanced in literary culture beyond any of their Slavic neigh- 
bors, and are already well prepared to maintain an independent 
sovereignty. 

The energies of the Greek nation are cramped by the smallness 
of its territory, which is not large enough to give it either the popu- 
lation or the revenues of a really sovereign State. The reasonable- 
ness of its demands for expansion is generally conceded, but, as 
they would involve an entire readjustment of the Eastern Question, 
it has heretofore been impracticable to grant them. Since such a 
readjustment has been forced by the course of events, it will not be 
possible to evade answering them, whatever efforts may be exerted 
by some of the powers to preserve the Turkish boundaries as the 
treaty of San Stefano arranged them. They can be answered with 
less embarrassment than those of any other nationality. The dis- 
tricts that Greece may claim are clearly marked out, and there is 
little occasion for dispute as to the precise boundaries. Thessaly, 
Epirus, and Southern Macedonia and the islands — the predominantly 
Greek districts of Turkey — are removed from the rivalry of the 
Great Powers, which makes it so difficult to gratify the full desires 
of Bosnia, Servia, Rumania, and Bulgaria. IsTo power could pre- 
sent any claim or interest adverse to the complete fulfillment of the 
wishes of Greece. 

The expanded Kingdom would be extended over a people who 
desire its rule, and would prefer it to any other. They participated 
in the Revolution, and were disappointed when they were shut out 
from the State to which it gave birth. They have been interested 
in the progress of the country, have sympathized with every move- 
ment which concerned it, and have shared its intellectual advance- 
ment. 

The Greeks watched the wars of 18Y6 and 18Y7 with interest and 
sympathy, without taking active part in them. They were re- 



590 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



strained by a sense of the intrinsic weakness of their State, and dis- 
couraged bj the advice of the friendly powers, particularly of 
England. I^evertheless, the Government was active in preparation, 
so as to be in a condition to take advantage of any opportunity 
which might arise for action with safety, and the people in the 
provinces kept bands under organization, ready to break out into 
insurrection at an auspicious moment. A camp of instruction was 
established at Thebes, under the immediate supervision of the King. 
The committee at Athens, formed in 1867 to assist the insurgents 
in Crete, was expanded into the " Pan -Hellenic Committee," and 
sent emissaries into all parts of Turkey, to prepare their countrymen 
for a general rising, and superintended the organization of skeleton 
bands in all the provinces, to serve as the nucleus of an effective 
force, to be filled up when the signal for the contemplated rising 
should be given. It was intended in 1876 that the rising should 
take place as soon as the Servians should gain any considerable 
victory over the Turks, and the Servians were given assurances to 
that effect, but their defeat prevented the fulfillment of this intention. 

Although the Grecian people continued agitated during the whole 
of the war, it was not till the close of January, 1878, that the Gov- 
ernment decided upon any action. Then, moved by the pressure 
of popular clamor, and the peril to which the Thessalian insurrec- 
tionists were exposed from the barbarity of the Turkish irregulars, 
it sent its troops over the border, to discover immediately that it 
had committed a great mistake, since the conclusion of the armistice 
with Eussia had left the Turks free to send their whole force against 
the offending State. The Government then appealed to the repre- 
sentatives of the powers for an assurance of protection, which was 
given, with the promise that the Greek question would be submitted 
to the conference of the powers about to be assembled. 

The Slavic population in these provinces who would prefer some 
other Government than a Greek one, is comparatively small. The 
Greeks number in all European Turkey about 1,120,000 souls, or thir- 
teen per cen t, of the whole population ; but in the Greek provinces, in 
the parts of Southern Eumelia which are excluded from the new 
Bulgaria, and in the islands of the Archipelago, they include nearly 
all the inhabitants, so that their vaUd claim includes all that is left 
of European Turkey south of Albania and the boundaries of the 
new Bulgaria. They are also fast occupying the seaports and coasts 
of Asia Minor, from which the Turks are steadily retiring before 



NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 



their steady increase ; and no doubt can exist that a vigorous Greek 
kingdom in Europe would soon find a legitimate field of expansion 
in replanting the wastes of those once wealthy regions, furnishing 
an enterprising population of tradesmen and farmers to replace the 
indolent and imbecile Turks, substituting good government for Otto- 
man misrule, and restoring to civilization those provinces of the 
East which the ancient Greeks covered with the splendor of their 
best achievements in literature and the arts. The Greeks have a 
capacity for assimilating and absorbing other peoples, which has been 
approved in hundreds of instances in the course of their history, and 
which is now manifesting itself upon the Slavic peoples wherever 
the two races come in contact in Turkey. The Greek language is 
spreading at the expense of other languages, as in Albania and in 
some of the Slavic districts, where it is extensively spoken. The 
Greeks are able also to exert a great influence through their power 
in the Greek Church, which embraces all the nationalities of Eastern 
Europe, the Patriarch and all the heads of the Church at Constan- 
tinople, having always been and still being of Grecian nationality. 
The fierceness of the ecclesiastical struggle which lately prevailed in 
Bulgaria affords the strongest possible testimony to the aggressive- 
ness of the Grecian character, its tenacity in pursuing its purposes, 
and the difficulty with which its influence is overcome. All of these 
qualities will serve them well in moulding the people into a com- 
pact political and social organization. 

The hostility which is alleged to exist between the Greeks and 
Slavs is more apparent than real. Their interests are diverse, but 
not opposed. Each seeks the freedom of its own nationality, but 
has no possible interest in opposing the success of the other ; only 
naturally, neither is willing that either should prevail at the expense 
of the other. The attitude of the Greeks toward the Servian 
nation in its last struggle for independence w.as clearly defined and 
defended by Mr. Contostavlos, the Grecian Minister of Foreign Af- 
fairs, in an address which he delivered in the National Chamber of 
Deputies in November, 1876. He said that the Greeks had no 
hostility to that people, since they, like the Servians, were Christian, 
and their whole people were formerly, as some of them were still, 
subject, like the Servians, to the Ottoman yoke and liable to the 
same oppressions ; but the question was not one of sympathy, but 
of action, and in this the policy of good sense rather than that of 
sentiment ought to be followed. 



592 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The justice of the Grecian claims is generally recognized. Even 
those who are most exclusively devoted to the advancement of Slavic 
interests do not dispute them. "While not much attention has ap- 
parently been given them officially, they have been quite widely 
discussed in an informal manner, and have received favorable at- 
tention. 

Signor Crispi, President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, 
visited several of the Continental capitals during October, 187T, on 
what was generally supposed to be a serai-official mission on behalf 
of his Government. At Pesth, he declared to a number of deputies 
that Italy was not willing that Pussia should solve the Eastern 
Question alone, but thought that in case of a Pussian victory the 
powers should join in the settlement. In such an event, he would 
propose the formation of a confederation of the South Slavic coun- 
tries and the extension of Greece to the Balkans as an adjustment 
that would prevent a renewal of the war. 

The expansion of Greece would doubtless be supported with real 
enthusiasm by a large proportion of the English people, who have 
always manifested a strong sympathy with the struggles of the gal- 
lant nation, and consider themselves in a certain sense its natural 
protectors. Mr. Gladstone is a prominent advocate of the plan, and 
presented a strong argument in favor of it in ^N^ovember, 18T6, in 
his article on " The Hellenic Factor in the Eastern Problem," from 
which we have quoted several facts. A foretaste of the spirit with 
which the people at large would receive the official agitation of the 
question was given in the loud applause with which a large audience 
at Bristol greeted the Liberal leader, Mr. Forster, in [N'ovember, 1877, 
when referring to the announcements of Earl Derby and Earl Bea- 
consfield that "Her Majesty's Government is not prepared to wit- 
ness with indifference the passage into other hands than those of its 
present possessors of a capital holding so peculiar and commanding 
a position as Constantinople." He said : " Well, no Englishman could 
view it with indifference. If the war should end with the defeat of 
the Turks, I should not look with indifference, but with very great 
pleasure, on the possession of Constantinople by the Greeks." 

When, on the occasion of the awkward situation occasioned by the 
advance of the Grecian troops into Thessaly simultaneously with the 
conclusion of the armistice, a deputation of Greek residents in Lon- 
don waited on Earl Derby on the 5th of February, his lordship said 
that his sympathies had always been with the Greek race, and read 



NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 



593 



in illustration of liis position a dispatch of July 6, ISYY, which de- 
clared that England always looked to the welfare of Greece. He 
further said that he would endeavor to obtain guarantees for the 
good government of Turkey's Hellenic provinces, and would en- 
deavor at the conference to prevent the predominance of Slavs 
over Greeks. 

The incorporation of the Greek provinces into an independent 
State would be an act of justice which Europe owes in a certain 
sense; would give respectable dimensions and stability, without 
making it formidable to a kingdom which is now insignificant; 
would contribute immensely to the material prosperity of the prov- 
inces affected, and to the advancement of civilization in the East ; 
would furnish one of the easiest and safest solutions of the problem 
of the disposition of Constantinople, and is practicable and open to 
no reasonable objection. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENmSTILA. 
n. EUMANIANS AND SERVIANS. 

The Dacia of the Romans— Character of the Ancient Dacians— The Roman Conquest and 
Colonization — "Withdrawal of the Romans — Successive Tribes of Northern Barbarians 
Occupy the Country — The Bulgarians and the East Roman Empire — The Kingdoms 
of Wallaehia and Moldavia — They become Tributary, and finally Subject to Turkey — 
They become semi-independent and are afterward united as Rumania — The Ru- 
manians and the Romans— The Wallachiah, or Rumanian Language— The Culture 
of the Language — Wallaehia in 1835 — Count Von Moltke's Impressions — Marks of 
Improvement and Progress — Agricultiire and Manufactures — J ealousy of Foreigners 
— The Nationalities in Rumania — Distribution of the Rumanians in Surrounding 
Countries — The Mistakes which the Rumanians have committed — The Better 
Qualities of the People— The Hopeful Prospects of the Country—The Servian Na- 
tionalit}^ — Its Numbers and Distribution — Education in Scrvia and Montenegro — 
Unity of Language— The Communal Organization of Servian Society— The National 
Movement and the Omladina — Capacity of the Servians to form a nation. 

The country of the Eumanians was known to the ancients as 
Dacia. It first came under notice in the time of Alexander the 
Great, who made war upon the Getae, the dwellers on the banks of 
the Danube. Gibbon describes the Dacians of five centm-ies after- 
ward as " the most warlike of men, who during the reign of Domi- 
tian had insulted with impunity the majesty of Rome." The treaty 
which this Emperor was obliged to conclude with them, a.d. 81, is 
distinguished as marking the first occasion on which " Imperial 
Home consented to purchase peace of an enemy." The Emperor 
Trajan conquered the country after a war of five years, in which 
" Decebalus, the Dacian King, approved himself a rival not un- 
worthy " of his antagonist, and made it a Roman province, a.d. 107. 
It remained for one hundred and sixty-seven years a prosperous 
Roman colony. The Imperial rule was beneficial here as every- 
where. The people were incorporated into Roman citizenship ; they 
affiliated with the Roman settlers. The soldiers built roads and 
bridges and public works, and the country was happier than it ever 
had been before or ever has been since. The Roman dominion, 
though short, made a wonderfully deep impression on the manners 



NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 



and customs of tlie people and their language, wliicli lias never been 
effaced. 

The Goths appeared in the conntry in the third century, and at 
length became so numerous and troublesome that the Emperor Au- 
relian withdrew his legions and gave up the province. A part of 
the settlers emigrated to adjoining provinces, a part remained. First 
the Yisigoths held it, then the Ostrogoths ; the latter were replaced 
by the Alani and Huns, then by the Avari, then by the Bulgarians, 
during whose rule, a.d. 861, Christianity was introduced by Metho- 
dius. From the time of the conquest of the Bulgarian kingdom by 
the Emperor Yasili in 1018, till 1186, the country formed a part of 
the East-Roman Empire. The second Bulgarian kingdom, founded 
in the latter year, included Rumania during a part of its existence. 
An independent kingdom was founded in Wallachia in 124:1. An- 
other kingdom was founded in Moldavia in 1354. The "Wallachian 
kingdom became tributary to Turkey in 1391, and was made a 
Turkish province in 1688, governed at first by native Hospodars, 
but after 1716 by Fanariote (so the Greeks of Constantinople were 
called) Greek governors named by the Porte. Stephen YL, the 
Great, of Moldavia (1456-1504), was a prince of considerable dis- 
tinction. He repelled the Tartars who invaded the land for the first 
time, waged war against the Hungarians and Poles, conquered Bu- 
kowina and Wallachia to the borders of Servia, but was unfortunate 
in a war against the Turks. His son, Bogdan II. (1504-1526), 
acknowledged the suzerainty of the Turkish Sultan, and Molda\da 
has, since his reign, been a vassal-State of Turkey, and shared the 
fate of its fellow province, Wallachia. During the last one hundred 
years, Rumania has been a battle-ground between Turkey and Rus- 
sia and Austria. Its provinces have been occupied by the armies of 
all three powers, and have been prominent subjects of the negotia- 
tions between them. Austria has gained Bukowina, Russia tlie dis- 
tricts east of the Pruth from Moldavia. The Treaty of Paris, in 
1856, gave to Moldavia and Wallachia the condition of semi-inde- 
pendence under the suzerainty of the Porte and the protection of 
the powers, under which they achieved a union in 1859, despite the 
objecti n of the Sultan, into the principality of Rumania, and from 
which the united principality, supported by the moral force of a 
Russian alliance, rose to independence in May, 1877. 

It would be hard to define exactly what the Rumanians are. 
Judging from their history, they are among the most mixed of 
32 



596 THE WAR IN THE EAST. 

races. Their country has been occupied, since the Komans left it, 
by a half-dozen barbarous tribes, ending with the Slavs, most of 
which came more numerously than the Komans, and some of which 
held it much longer than they did. Yet during all their fluctuations 
it has been the pride of the people to call themselves Romans — Ru- 
mani — and to speak a Roman language. Their most marked feat- 
ures are Roman, and of all modern languages the Italian is most 
like theirs. In this persistence to the Roman type, they present a 
curious contrast to the Bulgarians, so tenacious in other respects of 
their national life, for while the Bulgarians became Slavic under 
Slavic influences, they have escaped foreign impressions. 

Some writers have urged that the TVallachian or Rumanian lan- 
guage is a Slavic tongue, and have been able to cite a considerable 
number of Slavic words in support of their vievr. It likewise con- 
tains German, and Greek, and Magyar, and other words of foreign 
origin. It could hardly fail to present many evidences of admix- 
ture, after such a number of different races have occupied the coun- 
try. The body of the language is, however, unquestionably Latin, 
and its resemblance to the Italian can hardly fail to strike one who 
is acquainted with the latter at the first sight. Its alphabet, how- 
ever, is of Slavic origin. It was reduced to writing in the fifteenth 
century, and given the characters called Cyrillic, because they were 
invented by Cyril, which are similar to those of the modern Russian. 
The Cyrillic alphabet continued in use until 1847, when it gave 
way to an alphabet composed entirely of Roman characters. The 
Slavic language was encouraged by the clergy during the period of 
Slavic predominance, but in 1643 Prince George Rakoczky ordered 
the archbishop to preach to the Rumanians in their own language. 
Greek became the fashionable language under the Greek governors 
appointed by the Porte, while the Rumanian continued to be spoken 
by the people, and has only supplanted the Greek among the higher 
classes within the present century, The first Rumanian books 
appeared about the middle of the seventeenth century, in the shape 
of translations of the Church books and sacred wiitings. The 
growth of the native literature has been slow, and has been exhib- 
ited principally in the field of lyric poetiy. 

A movement for the restoration of the ancient speech was begun 
in 1815, and has been prosecuted with vigor. The change from the 
Cyrillic to the Roman alphabet has not been entirely settled yet, so 
that the spelling is still quite uncertain. Many foreign terms have 



NEIV STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 



been cast out and replaced by words chosen from the ancient Latin 
or modern Italian. The Eumanian Academy was established in 
1871 for the purpose of regulating the language and settling the 
orthography. It is preparing a grammar and a dictionary which 
will become the standards of the nation, and proposes as the result 
of its efforts to restore in its purity a speech which those who use it 
boast is the oldest of the languages now spoken, which were derived 
originally and directly from that of the Romans. 

The Rumanians are passionately fond of poetry, and their list of 
writers of songs and romances is quite numerous. The language, 
being soft and musical, is well adapted to the lighter styles of verse. 
They have but little as yet to show in prose or in works of learning, 
but offer the names of three prominent historians and two gram- 
matists, besides several writers who have translated works from 
other languages. - For dramatic works they are likewise indebted to 
translations. Their three principal journals are published at Bu- 
charest, Jassy, and Galatz. 

Count Yon Moltke, the great German General, traveled through 
Wallachia in' 1835, and recorded a very unfavorable impression of 
the condition of the country. It had then been only partly extricated 
from Turkish despotism, having been for five years under a kind 
of double dependence upon Turkey and Russia, and the Count re- 
garded it particularly with reference to its prospects for future 
development. The appearance of the land, he said, bore fearful 
e^ddence of a long servitude. The cities lay half in ruins, or were 
of earthen houses, the villages were hidden in the valleys as if the 
people had sought protection in poverty and concealment, and were 
without gardens, fruit trees, or churches, and one might say with- 
out houses, for the latter are sunk in the ground and covered only 
with a roof of boughs." One might, at that time, travel whole 
days without seeing a farmstead, a mill, an inn, an avenue, a 
bridge, or a castle. The land was destitute of trees ; the Boyars 
lived in the towns, where were all the churches, of which the rural 
parts of the country had none. The Wallachs had a fine appear- 
ance, but the Turkish yoke had completely debased them, and 
accustomed to make the least suffice for themselves, they knew 
nothing of the wants of other nations, dreaded want less than labor, 
the constraint of civilization more than the misery of barbarism. 
" From the present generation," said Yon Moltke, " little is to be 
expected." 



598 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



To-day finds the country with an awakened national spirit, en- 
joying a government under a wise Prince of one of the ablest houses 
of Europe, whose efiectiveness is well shown by the honorable 
record which its soldiers made for themselves before Plevna. The 
people, their more enlightened leaders at least, are occupied with 
schemes for the improvement of the country, for the spread of 
education, the encouragement of literature, the development of na- 
tional industries, and the construction of works of improvement. 

Education has made considerable progress within twenty years, 
but much remains to be done. The law contemplates a school in 
every town of more than fifty families. The provision of the 
schools, though still deficient, is likely to become ample in a short 
time under the operation of the compulsory law which was passed 
in 1864. Some of the higher schools are of excellent character, but 
the tendency to superficiality and the preference of the showy to 
the substantial, which many of the private schools exhibit, displays 
one of the weak points of the people, a point which is still further 
displayed in the devotion to Parisian fashions and gayeties, and the 
copying of the frivolities of Parisian life, which are among the most 
marked characteristics of their capitals. 

Rumania is predominantly an agricultural country. It enjoys a 
climate and a soil favorable to the most profitable culture, but has 
neither the capital nor the adaptability of its people to engage 
largely in manufactures. The Rumanians do not incline to indus- 
trial arts. They leave common trades to foreigners and gypsies, 
and themselves, when educated, seek the learned professions, which 
are consequently, especially that of the law, overcrowded. The 
Government has made efforts to build up and encourage manufac- 
turing enterprises, with only a small degree of success, and this 
branch of national growth has been, so far, marked rather by what 
has been tried and failed than by what has been accomplished. The 
railroad enterprises which had been undertaken suffered a great shock 
by the defalcation of Dr. Strousberg, but they have been continued, 
and the country is now better supplied with railroads than any other 
part of the Turkish dominions. 

One of the drawbacks to the progress of the people is their 
jealousy of foreigners. It is shown in their laws, which exclude 
foreigners from all official and public functions, and make natural- 
ization difiicult. It is particularly shown in the persecutions to 
which the Jews are exposed, and which occupy the multitude to 



NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 



599 



sncli an extent that a native of the country told Carl Braun, the 
traveler, that the J-ewish Question was the only one the populace 
really cared about. A country which is wholly dependent upon 
foreigners and their capital for the development of industrial enter- 
prises can not expect to receive the benefits which it reqnires and 
should derive from them while it is thus intolerant of them. 

More than fonr-fifths (4,293,000 out of 5,073,000) of the popula. 
tion are Kumanians. They are called Wallachs by the Germans, but 
themselves acknowledge no name but the one, Humani^ that points 
out their Roman origin. Next to them are the Jews, 400,000, 
whom they hate, because, as one of the national newspapers says, 
they do not cease to be a caste and become one with the people of 
the country. ISText in order are Gypsies (200,000), Russians and 
Slavs, Austrians, Hungarians, and a dozen other nationalities, num- 
bering each less than ten thousand. A peculiar feature in the 
distribution of the population for a Turkish country is the small 
number of Turks, who, together with the Tartars, do not number 
more than 2,700; and it is remarked that the Turks have never 
ventured to make a settlement in any large numbers north of the 
Danube. By religions, 4,529,000 belong to the Greek Church, 
114,200 to the Roman Catholic Church, and 13,800 are Protestants. 
But the Rumanians are not all in the present Rumania. They are 
diffused over the whole of the former Dacia, occupy half the 
Austrian province of Bukowina, where they number more than two 
hundred thousand, form more than half (1,206,900) the population 
of Transylvania, and number more than a million in Hungary 
proper, more than 2,685,600 in all Austria and Hungary, and are 
largely represented in the Dobrudja and in other parts of Turkey, 
They also form a large proportion of the population of Russian Bes- 
sarabia. 

Rumania thus has the population of a considerable State. It is 
not an unhomogeneous population when compared with that of 
Austria and Hungary, although it contains diverse and some an- 
tagonistic elements, for the Rumanians so outnumber all the others 
as to be able to have their way with but little friction. It has also 
an established government, which has created many of the agencies 
and some of the resources of an independent State ; and it was sub- 
stantially independent before the war began. 

The Rumanians believe, the same as the Slavs and the Greeks 
believe of their nationalities, that the future of the East belongs to 



6oo 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



them. It can not be said that the prospect of their realizing this 
belief is as good as those of some of their neighbors. With the 
same opportunities, they have not made as much progress as the 
Servians. They have not equalled the Bulgarians in stolid tenacity 
of purpose, and have fallen short of the preference that that people 
have displayed for the solid in education over the superficial ; and 
they have not the activity and versatility of the Greeks. They 
have made mistakes at the start of the race, which Carl Braun has 
described by comparing them to one who prefers the appearance to 
the reality, or to one who adorns the top of a pyramid, instead of 
repairing its base. This writer, criticising their course and tenden- 
cies with some severity, says that efibrts should begin at the bottom, 
rather than at the top ; that they should be less pohtical and more 
administrative and for amelioration ; that the State should hold 
itself not exclusive, but receptive, of foreigners ; that it should be 
concerned more for the Sergeant than for the General, for the vil- 
lage schoolmaster than for the academical teacher ; should not seek 
the acquisition of territory, but, first of all, the improvement of the 
circumstances of the interior ; should not indulge in a vain pursuit 
after the grandeur of the Eomans and the wit of the French, but 
should cultivate public spirit and rural industry. 

It would not be fair, however, to apply to the people of the whole 
country these descriptions of the fashionable life of the capitals, 
whose vain notions and faults have been gained mostly through the 
Hmited intercourse which they have held with "Western society, of 
which, like most copyists, they have imitated the most frivolous 
features, omitting the solid traits and the refinements. The moral 
tone of Bucharest was higher than it is before this took place. The 
traits of the national character, says a recent writer, have become 
gradually efi*aced among the residents of the capital, and "the 
Bucharest dandies are in no sense representatives of the Rumanian 
people." The true representatives are to be found among the high- 
landers of the Carpathians, who continue to adhere to the ancestral 
worship and traditions, and who are probably capable of indefinite 
development." ''At present, the character of the peasants is in an 
embryo condition. Its prominent features are a disinclination to 

exertion and a dislike to cold water Their want of energy 

and of ambition are attributable, to a great extent, to the untoward 
circumstances in which they have found themselves for generations. 
The change of masters — within forty years Wallachia has had 



NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 6or 



seventy Princes — has not relieved the peasant from the burdens 
imposed upon him, not merely by the invading foreigner, but also 
by the upper classes of his own country. He plods on in a hopeless 
kind of fashion, for he is liable at any time to have his wretched 
belongings seized, and he is aware that the benefits of his labor 
will, in any case, be reaped by others."* 

A fair judgment of the prospects of the country, weighing both 
sides, is given by Carl Braun in his " Turkish Journey,"']' who says : 
" It is a country of extraordinary richness, to whose growth and 
development nothing is wanting but the provision of the necessary 
capital, and the requisite number of industrious and intelligent 
men. Both, capital and men, will be furnished when Rumania — 
and the time when this is done can be determined by itself — enters 
the family of European States and peoples as a full member. For 
this, it must be understood that the State shall assure the freest pos- 
sible circulation of men and goods, shall give up its idiosyncrasies 
against foreigners as an offering to the genius of culture and civiliza- 
tion, and shall take part in international rivalries and the division 
of labor. The native population is gifted, and adapted to culture 
down to the lowest grades, but it needs the spur of competition and 
the firm support of a general, gratuitous, compulsory popular edu- 
cation of a solid character." Rudolf Henke, who is the author of 
a special work on Rumania,:]: the first that has appeared, says: 
Rumania is a land of the future, which will be able to reach its 
fall bloom as soon as the hinderances which now stand in its way are 
removed. From a small, obscure beginning, it has advanced to be 
a respectable State of the middle rank, and, averaging its qualities, 
stands, in respect to size, population, finances, and civilization, as. 
about the twelfth or fourteenth of the twenty-three States of 
Europe. In spite of its having been till now a vassal-State of Tur- 
key, it has reached the same grade of culture, if it has not attained 
a higher one, as Spain, Portugal, and Greece, to say nothing of 
Turkey, and but little lower than Italy, Russia, and the non-Ger- 
man provinces of Austria." This picture is somewhat over-colored,, 
but it represents the view of a man who has probably given the^ 

* Pall 3Iall Gazette. Review of Florence K. Berger's " Winter in the City of Pleasure."' 
March, 1877. 

t "Eiae Turkische Reise," von Carl Braun. Weisbaden, Stuttgart, 1876. 

% " Ruiuanien ; Land und Volk, etc." Geschildert von Rudolf Henke. Leipsic, 1877. 



6o2 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



condition of the country more special attention than any other 
author. 

The mind of the people, and especially of the young men, has 
suffered, in the abnormal condition of the country, for the lack oi 
healthy stimulus. Full independence will introduce national objects 
and motives for political activity, giving serious objects to be sought, 
and positions of honor and responsibility to be struggled for, and a 
regeneration of the nation and a development and strengthening 
of the better qualities of the people can hardly fail to take place 
under its influence. 

The principality has much to expect from its chief, who, a near 
relative of the Emperor of Germany, and trained in the traditions 
and usages of a princely house which is distinguished for its far- 
sighted intelligence and administrative ability, has devoted himself 
to the interests of the country, and will spare no labors to remedy 
its defects and increase its advantages and resources. The much 
that he has already done in reforms and measures for consolidating 
the character and strength of the nation, warrant the belief that he 
will accomplish much more now that he is relieved of the impedi- 
ment of vassalage to a barbarian master. Under his skillful guidance, 
the people, encouraged by their newly- won liberty, and who are 
earnestly seeking a genuine national development, may be expected 
to adopt an enlightened course, and start upon the career which 
nature has indicated that they should adopt. While Bulgaria 
promises to excel in manufactures and special industries, and Greece 
in trade, Rumania is marked to become a great farming State, while 
the intellectual tendencies and aesthetic tastes of the people promise 
for them a national character not unlike that of the French. 

The Servians constitute nearly the entire populations of the princi- 
palities of Montenegro and Seiwia, as well as of the Turkish provinces 
of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Thus the whole north-west of European 
Turkey is inhabited by people speaking one language, though 
politically they are designated by different names. Crossing the 
northern and north-western frontier of Turkey, we find large portions 
of Austrian territory occupied by the same people. They constitute 
95 per cent, of the population in the former kingdom of Croatia and 
Slavonia ; 90 per cent, in Dalmatia, and 80 per cent, in the former 
military frontier. Thus the Servian language is spoken by a com- 
pact population, numbering more than 6,000,000 persons, and occu- 
pying a territory of about 69,000 square miles, or of an extent 



NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 603 

equalling the aggregate area of the States of ISTew York, JSTew Jersey, 
Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. If we add to this 
the land of the nearly kindred tribes of the Slovens (also called 
Sloventzi or Winds), who are the predominating race in the Austrian 
crownland of Carniola, and in large portions of Styria, Carinthia, and 
the Littoral, and who are in profound sympathy with the movements 
among the Servians and the Croatians, we obtain for this people an 
aggregate area of nearly 80,000 square miles, and a population of 
about seven and one-half millions. For more than a thousand years 
they are known to have lived in the countries which they still hold. 
They have been unsuccessful in their struggles against the more 
powerful and more progressive nations by which they are surrounded ; 
the independence of their national Empire has been destroyed by 
the Turks, Magyars, and Germany ; they have hardly been touched 
by the wonderful progress of civilization and literature which marks 
the last century of the history of Central and Western Europe ; and 
some portion of their territory belongs to the most illiterate countries 
of Europe. But in spite of their ignorance, and in spite of all 
oppressions, they have clung, with wonderful tenacity, to their 
language. The Austrians, and more recently the Hungarians, have 
tried to Germanize and Magyarize the Servian tribes of the Austrian 
Empire by giving them better schools and a higher class of literature ; 
but these efforts, while awakening among them a thirst for literary 
culture, have, at the same time, greatly strengthened their devotion 
to their own native language and their desire to develop a national 
literature. The revolutionary year, 1848, gretitly favored their 
national tendencies. The Government of Yienna, for a time, needed 
the aid of the Croatians against the Hungarians, and deemed it wise 
policy to favor as much as possible the aspirations of the Croatian 
nationalists. 

In Turkey, the Servian race has been greatly benefited by the 
actual independence which the principality of Servia has been able 
to re-establish. The Government of this little country has shown 
a laudable zeal for promoting education and endeavoring to raise it 
to a level with the most advanced countries. Fifty years ago, Servia 
had no public primary school. JS^ow a complete system of public 
education has been established, and for its management a special 
Ministry of Education has been organized. Education is compul- 
sory, and is free to all, in the highest as well as in the lowest schools. 
In 1874, there were 617 public schools, with 23,278 pupils. In 



6o4 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



couiparison with tlie other States of Europe, this result is still very 
unsatisfactory, for it shows that Servia has, as yet, only IT pupils to 
every 1,000 inhabitants, while Switzerland has 155, and the German 
Empire, 153, and it is still inferior to eveiy Christian country of 
Europe except Russia, which has only 14 pupils to 1,000 inhabitants. 
But the enforcement of the compulsory attendance law can hardly 
fail soon to raise it higher in the scale of European nations. In 
1830, the first gymnasium was established, and now the principahty 
has two complete gymnasia and five progymnasia, with an aggregate 
attendance of 2,000 students. The course of the Servian gymnasia 
embraces seven classes, which are instructed in religion, the Servian, 
Latin, French, and German languages, history, geography, mathe- 
mathics, natural history, physics, drawing, and gymnastic exercises. 
A normal school has been in successful operation since 1872. The 
high-school in Belgrade contains three faculties, and has about 200 
students. The little principality of Montenegro has of late made 
similar efforts to organize a complete system of public instruction. 
Bosnia and Herzegovina have hitherto been in a most deplorable 
condition, but they may now be expected to enter into a lively com 
petition with the people of Servia and Montenegro, with whom the}'' 
are so intimately connected by the strongest bonds of affinity and 
sympathy. 

The Servians of all the different denominations in Austria and 
Turkey — Servians, Bosnians, Herzegovinians, Montenegrins, Croa- 
tians, Slavonians, Dalmatians, Slovenes — are only now awakening 
to the full significance of the fact, that the common language they 
speak makes them joint members of one nationality. Like many 
other nationalities, they have been, and still are, divided by religious 
differences. Almost the entire population of the principalities of 
Servia and Montenegro, the majority of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
belong to the Greek Church, while the Austrian Servians are more 
equally divided between the Greek and Roman Catholic Church. 
A considerable number of the Bosnians are also Eoman Catholics, 
and a large portion of the wealthier classes of Bosnians have even 
become Mohammedans. The Servians of the Greek Church, like 
the other Slavs of that faith, have been drawn more and more into 
close relations with Russia, while those of the Roman Catholic 
Church have begun to show a stronger dislike to Russia than to 
Turkey. The Catholic Bosnians kept aloof from the insurrectionary 
movements of 1876, and it was reported that several young priests 



NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 605 

who had betrayed some sympathy with the national cause, had been 
sent ont of the country by their superiors. The Mohammedans, 
whose social prerogatives are so closely interwoven with the Turkish 
rule, are of course the most fanatical opponents of any aspiration for 
the independence and political progress of the Ser^-ian nationality. 
But even these Mohammedans have preserved the use of their 
Servian language to the present day. Yea, being the richest class 
in the Servian nationahty, they speak their language with a greater 
purity than the Christians of Bosnia. 

The social organization among the Servians is peculiar. It was 
originally based in all Slavic nations upon the principle of the Com- 
munity, as is strikingly exemplified in one form by the Russian Mir. 
The same principle in another shape underlies the Zadruga, or 
household association of the Southern Slavs, which, as we have 
described it in a -previous chapter, is the characteristic family organi- 
zation of the Servians. The organization has imdergone modiiications 
and a dechne among the Austrian Slavs, and has been compelled by 
the stress of circumstances to give way to a form of individual life 
among the Montenegrins, and in the towns, and it has been assailed 
bv recent legislation, but it still prevails among the agricultm-al 
population of Servia. The several families who form the house- 
hold, who may be supposed to have ah-eady some bond of con- 
nection, as blood relationship or inherited association, are united 
into free associations, which bear different names in the different 
countries, and in which each member subordinates his private inter- 
ests to that of the community, without being absorbed in it. A head 
is chosen by the community, who is a president, not a ruler, but 
whose consent is required for undertakings of more than ordinary 
importance. The people are strongly attached to this communal or- 
o-anization, and many of their proverbs show how entirely it has be- 
come a part of their ideal of hf e. " In Herzegovina, it is claimed 
that poverty never arrives until after the dissolution of the commu- 
nities." "Nothing can be more beautiful," says Yankovitch and 
Gruitch, in their " Les Slaves du Sud," " than to live in a Servian 
familv, nothing more interesting than to see and be acquainted with 
it. Thirty, sixty persons hve together and labor in common. That 
mass obeys a single will, concentrated in its head. But it obeys with 
pleasure and with conhdence, for the members of the household are 
not there by any constraint ; the only bond which holds them is a 
moral tie, siace they know that they are rendering obedience to a 



6o6 



THE WAR IN THE EAST 



wisdom which is furthest sighted of them all;" and these authors 
add to their praise of the institution : " The Servian people are free 
from absurd notions. There has never been a proletariat among us." 
The dissolution of the community is always looked upon as a 
calamity.* 

The fact that all the Servian tribes speak one language, and the 
hope that they may all co-operate in the building up of one common 
national literature, have gi^en a powerful impulse to the idea of 
establishing as close a union as circumstances will allow, of all the 
peoj)le speaking the Servian language. Youthful enthusiasts have 
even intoxicated themselves with the dream of the restoration of a 
Servian Empire, which, from the extent of its area and the number 
of its population, might fill a respectable place among the States of 
Europe, being in both respects superior to Sweden, Xorway, Den- 
mark, Belgium, Portugal, and Switzerland. This idea has found 
zealous and enthusiastic leaders in the Young Servians studying at the 
European Universities, who, from a study of the modern history of Eu- 
rope, have imbibed a belief in a reconstruction of the map of Europe 
on the basis of the nationality principle. They mean to profit by the 
wonderful success of the sagacious Italian and German statesmen, 
who, by a skillfal use of this principle, have consolidated the dis- 
jointed members of powerful nations into great Empires. The young 
Servian enthusiasts who hope to follow in the footsteps of Cavour and 
Bismarck have their center in a society called Omladina^ the primary 
and ostensible project of which is to cultivate Servian literature, 
while it regards as its remoter and final goal, the foundation of a 
general Servian Empire. The influence of this society is easily 
traceable in the spirit of the young Servian literatm^e, and in the 
management of all the Servian institutions of learning. The issue 
of the war has greatly strengthened the hopes of the Servian nation- 
alists. The power of the Turks to arrest the steady rise of the Ser- 
vian people and to prevent the resurrection of a Servian Empire, has 
been broken. Servia, Montenegro, Bosnia, and Herzegovina will 
co-operate in smoothing the road for a future union. What direc- 
tion this road will take, may as yet be unknown, but we can not won- 
der if enthusiastic Servians now more firmly believe than ever, that 
the aspirations of a large nation will, in the course of time, call forth 

* Countess Dora D'Istria, article on " The condition of women among the Southern 
Slavs," In the Penn Monthly for January, 1878. 



NEW STATES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA. 607 



the ingenious statesman who will reintroduce it as a sovereign mem- 
ber into the family of civilized nations. It is certainly a significant 
fact, that in Hungary the Catholic and Greek Servians are now fully 
united in the struggle for maintaining the national character of their 
schools, and in cultivating a common literature, and the leaders of 
the national movement firmly hope, that as soon as the Mohammedan 
Bosnians clearly see the impossibility of expecting any further aid 
from the decrepit Turks, they may be found as ready to fall in with 
the national movement as their forefathers were in adopting the 
Islam. 

The Servian nation includes the people who, after the Greeks, 
have made the greatest advancement in civilization and the improve- 
ment of their country of any of the populations of the Ottoman Em- 
pire. It also includes, in the Bosnians, those who are most backward. 
It is represented -in the Montenegrins by the bravest people in the 
world. It has been more steadily faithful than any of the other sub- 
ject peoples of Turkey, to the traditions of its former national life. 
The MontenegTins have never been subdued ; the people of the priE- 
cipality of Servia have kept up a continual disturbance against Turk- 
ish rule, have advanced steadily toward independence since the begin- 
ning of this century, have let no consideration prevent their striking 
for it whenever they had opportunity, and have at last gained it ; 
and the Bosnians, notwithstanding the influence the Mussulman 
begs may have tried to exert over their countrymen, have always 
been unruly and started the insurrection which led to the important 
results the world is now witnessing. These facts, constituting prom- 
inent features in the history of the race, furnish a sufficient answer 
to the question, whether the Servians are fit to maintain an inde- 
pendent existence. The training in the subordination of theii' o\\ii 
will and interests to those of the community which they have re- 
ceived under the institution of the Zadruga, admirably qualifies them 
to become thoroughly loyal to any Government of their choice, and 
public-spirited citizens. 

The importance and influence of the new Servia will depend large- 
ly upon the extent which is given to it. The present State, even if 
it include all that the Servians now claim, is too small to admit of 
the best national development. If it should be given all the Ser- 
vians of Turkey, it would form a State equal to any of the others to 
be set up on the Balkan peninsula. If it should acquire the kindred 
tribes of Austria, it would constitute a mighty Empire. The dis- 



6o8 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



cnssion of these alternatives involves the consideration of questions 
in which other important States have a strong interest ; and if it 
should he brought up in form may produce another comphcation of 
the Eastern Question which will be hardly less difficult to resolve 
than that which attends the disposition of the remains of Turkey. 

Another nationality of the Balkan peninsula, the Albanian, has 
not been prominent in the recent discussions, and has made no con- 
certed manifestation of its desires. It is distinct in its origin from 
all other nationalities by whicli it is surrounded, and belongs to the 
oldest Aryan race of Eastern Europe, its Illyrian ancestors having 
antedated the Greeks in their settlement. Although the Albanians 
have been preserved distinct through all the revolutions of the past, 
and have at times made themselves conspicuous, they seem now, by 
means of the difference of religions, and the introduction of foreign 
languages and influence, to be gradually losing their national bonds, 
and to be showing a tendency to affiliate with the people around 
them. A large portion of them are now using the Greek language ; 
and in many other ways the effects of Grecian and Italian associa- 
tions appear to be modifying their habits. Their most probable 
destiny is not to become a separate State, but to be attached to some 
of the other States. A portion of them may unite their fortunes 
with the Greeks, with whom they have already had much to do, and 
among whose most famous heroes appear such Albanian names as 
Bozzaris and Canaris. The annexation of a part of Albania to 
Italy has also been mentioned as one of the possible results of the 
changes now going on ; and the Montenegrins will always be ready 
to appropriate a share of the territory on the north, a part of which 
they still covet. 



MARSHAL MACMAHON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE. 



CHAPTEK lY. 



PAITSLA'VIC HOPES AND TENDENCIES. 

The Resnlt of the War encouraging the Panslavists— Original Object of the Slavophile 
Party of Russia— Opposition to the Reforms introduced by Peter the Great— They 
sought to expel European Civilization and introduce a new Civilization of Russian, 
or Orthodox Slavic Development— Personal History of the Founders and Builders of 
the Party— The Aksakoffs, father and sons— Their Social Circle at Moscow— Literary 
Efforts of the Elder Aksakoff in behalf of the Cause— Stephanovitch Chomiakoff, the 
real Founder of the Party— His Travels and the Views he acquired— The Kireyevskis— 
Influence of these three over the Aksakoffs— Constantine Aksakoff's Eccentric Pro- 
tests against French Fashions— He revives Obsolete Customs— The Group propose the 
Russian Mir, or Village Commune, as the Basis of the new Organization of Society- 
Ivan Aksakoff and his Journal— Katkoff and the Party of Young Russia— Panslavie 
Movements in Austria— The Slavic Committees of Russia— Their work in the Her- 
zegovinian Insurrection— A Pro-Servian Excitement stirred Up— The Government 
drawn into the Movement— The Czar commits Himself at Moscow— Silence imposed 
during the Constantinople Conference— Activity resumed— Prince Tcherkassky— Aksa- 
koff declares the (Jnion in accord with the Czar— Slavic Meeting at Warsaw. 

The resnlt of the war has radically changed the position of the 
two Slavic nationalities of Turkey. Formerly crushed by an alien 
despotism and the victims of relentless efforts to quench all their 
national feelings and baffle their national efforts^ they are now 
dominant and the possessors of a beautiful, promising country, 
offering substantial advantages for promoting their material, intel- 
lectual, and social growth. The hand of the oppressor being re- 
moved and they enjoying the good wishes of the world, they have 
now every motive and encouragement to work out their own ad- 
vancement ; they have also the additional encouragement that their 
efforts will be watched with a peculiar interest by a family of 
kindred peoples who have made their cause their own, and who see 
in their triumph the presage of a glorious triumph for the race to 
which they belong. The victory now achieved can not fail to give 
a powerful impulse to the aspirations of the whole Slavic race. 
These aspirations will lend farther force to the operations of the 
powerful party which aims to elevate the Slavic subjects of all non- 
Slavic Governments to the same commanding position as has been 
gained for them in Turkey, and will in their turn be stimulated by 

(609) 



6io 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



its efforts. The Panslavists liave been referred to before in this 
work ; but as they are now likely to be more active and prominent 
than ever, and as their designs are of a character that threatens the 
peace of one of the most powerful States of Europe, and are likely 
to present another extremely difficult question for diplomatists to 
solve, it becomes proper to inquire what they are doing, and what is 
their aim. 

The name of Panslavism is applied in general to the move- 
ment which has been in progress for several years under the 
auspices of an active band of agitators for the national union or the 
independence and alliance of all the Slavic peoples who now live 
under different Governments. It affects to disregard all claims of 
those Governments, if they are non-Slavic, to the allegiance of their 
subjects; makes light of national prejudices, and even hopes to 
overcome the obstacles presented by differences in religion, which 
are more formidable. The movement is chiefly the growth of the 
nineteenth century ; it received a strong stimulus through the efforts 
of the Slovak Johann Kollar to promote a literary union of the 
Slavs, which was warmly received by the Czechs, and was first intro- 
duced prominently to the world at the Slavic Congress which was 
held at Prague in 1848. 

It has, however, received its strongest support from the Pussian 
party known as the Slavophiles, and is now most prominently 
represented and most urgently advanced by them. This party, 
which originated naturally in the reaction against the changes which 
were forced upon the nation rather than introduced into it by Peter 
the Great, and against the ascendency of foreigners, foreign Avays 
and views, and foreign influence in the councils of the nation, cor- 
responds closely with the party which exists in nearly all nations to 
cultivate the predominantly national feeling and keep alivb the af- 
fection for national customs, literature, and peculiarities ; but it is more 
pronounced in its views and measures in Pussia than in most other 
European countries, because Pussian conditions, customs, and society 
differ more greatly from those of Western nations than those of the 
latter differ among each other, and because the process of assimila- 
tion begun by Peter the Great has hardly yet worked below the 
surface in a verj^ limited circle of Pussian life. 

This party, which has existed since the last century, was active 
during the reign of the Czar ]N"icholas, but as under the military 
system of that Emperor no scope was allowed for political discussion. 



PAN SLA VIC HOPES AND TENDENCIES, 6ll 

it liad to confine its operations to literary efforts. Tlie close of tlie 
Crimean war, with disaster to Russia, caused a new field to be 
opened to it, which was made all the more available bj the prefer- 
ence of the new Czar Alexander for political over military methods 
and measures, and by the character of the measures which he under- 
took. It co-operated heartily in the emancipation of the serfs, and 
found in the proceedings which were taken for the Eussianization of 
the Baltic (German) provinces the development of a policy exactly 
agreeing in principle with the line of action which it had marked 
out for itself. During the war of 18Y7, it held itself ready to take 
advantage of either event, of disaster or victory to the Russian 
arms. In case Russia were defeated, and the nation had " to retire 
upon itself," new concessions would have to be made to popular de- 
mands, as had been done after the Crimean war. It would support 
the demands, and secure concessions which would promote the ob- 
jects of its existence. In case of victory, it would have abundant 
opportunities for action and the exercise of its influence in the dis- 
cussions that would follow in regard to the relations of the freed 
South Slavic nationalities. 

Traces of the power and activity of the sentiment on which the 
Slavophile party is founded — that of reaction against the reforms of 
Peter the Great — may be found throughout the history of the 
eighteenth century, although they do not appear in such close con- 
nection as to constitute a visible chain of events. The quiet, but 
constant and formidable opposition of the sects of the " Old Be- 
lievers " to the State Church ; the Strelitz insurrections ; the Dol- 
goruki conspiracy of 1Y30 ; the expulsion of German statesmen and 
marshals under the Empress Elizabeth ; the intrigues of Lomonosoff 
against the German members of the St. Petersburg Academy of 
Sciences; the Pugatsheff outbreak; the removal of Barclay and 
Benningsen from the chief command of the army in 1812; the De- 
kabrist insurrection of 1825, which bore in some respects against 
West-European ideas, may all be referred to as forerunners of the 
great revolution which has spread during the last forty yeai"s in the 
bosom of Russian cultivated society, and has come to light under 
the reign of Alexander II. This revolution is not the work of any 
particular men, nor the result of a deliberate plan, but is the prod- 
uct of a combination of circumstances. There are a few men,, 
however, who have been more prominently identified wdth the 
movement, and have contributed conspicuously to give shape and 
33 



6l2 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



direction to tlie tlionglits and acts of their compatriots, whose 
character and history it is necessary to know in order to understand 
thoroughly the aims and mode of action of the party. For the ac- 
count of these men and the history of the growth of the movement, 
we are indebted to a carefully prepared sketch published in the All- 
gemeine Zeitung in 1877. In nearly all countries, the popular senti- 
ment finds its best expression and representation in the popular 
romantic poetry, from which it often receives also its strongest 
guidance. It is so in Russia; and the Slavophile party has been 
largely built up around and by means of the literature of this school, 
and has found its most influential directors in the ranks of the 
men who cultivate this literature. 

Among the men most prominently known in connection with this 
party are the three Aksakoffs, the father and two sons. The elder 
Aksakoff, Sergius Timofeyevitch, was one of the weU-to-do nobles 
of the middle class, and was born at Ufa in 1791, to the possession 
of important estates in the Government of Orenburg. He held an 
appointment on the Land Commission of 1804, and was employed 
at a later date in the Bureau of the Censorship. In all his pablic 
positions he was distinguished for capacity and independence of 
thought. Like all active Russians of his time, he fell under the in- 
fluence of the French and German literature of the eighteenth 
century, and by their help raised himself above the crudeness of his 
ancestors. He translated some of the representative works of 
French literature, wrote for the paper of the party of reform, took 
part in the discussions of the day with those who advocated an ad- 
vanced training, and in all of these engagements combined a patri- 
otic, Russian tone of thought with irrepressible enthusiasm for cos- 
mopolitan culture. His saloon was for many years the rendezvous 
of writers, poets, and publicists of the most diversified views, whose 
influence was manifested very perceptibly upon the sons, who grew 
up in the presence of such meetings, as well as upon the father 
himself. 

These sons, of whom Constantine was bom in 1817, and his 
brother Ivan was a few years younger, had been students at the 
High School in Moscow, where they had come in contact with the 
philosophy of the Germans Hegel and Schelling, and had become 
inspired with the mystic romanticism which was at that time making 
the circuit of the world. Controversies arose in time among the 
band to which the brothers were attached, respecting the relation of 



PAN SLA VIC HOPES AND TENDENCIES. 613 

knowledge to faith, and of nationality to liumanity, wliich resulted 
in bitterness and a separation into two groups. The Aksakoffs and 
their friends, ChomiakofF, Yuri Samarin, Peter and Ivan Kireyevski, 
formed a compact circle, out of which, in course of time, grew the 
Slavophile party. The watchword of this party was return to the 
Russian folk-life as it was before Peter the Great ; in the name of 
which they demanded a departure from the heatheiush western cult- 
ure introduced by the great reformer, the study of the theology of 
the Slavic and Byzantine fathers, a transference of the political 
balance to the rural population who were uncontaminated b}^ the 
false Western learning, and the destruction of all foreign, particu- 
larly German, influences. These objects were decidedly contrary to 
the views which had been held by the elder Aksakoff and his asso- 
ciates ; nevertheless, the zeal and decision of the sons quite carried 
the father away, and he became an active participant in their move- 
ments. His home became a meeting-place for the followers of the 
school, and he himself hastened to spread the views he had newly 
adopted by means of his writings. At the request of his sons, he 
composed poetical descriptions of the impressions of his childhood- 
life, in the time of Catherine II. on. the banks of the Ufa, in a 
region then newly won from the Kirghiz, far from any possible influ- 
ences of European culture. These sketches, which were published in 
book-form as "Russian Family Chronicles," made a great im- 
pression, all in favor of the new party, are a standard work with the 
party, and rank among the most precious pieces of Russian litera- 
ture. Sergius Timofeyevitch died in May, 1859. 

The original impulse of the movement which led to the formation 
of the new party had been given by Alexis Stephanovitch Chomiakoff. 
He was the son of a wealthy Muscovite, and was born in the city of 
Moscow in 1804. He had spent his youth in a regiment of the 
horse-guards, had participated in the Turkish campaigns of 1828 
and 1829, had afterward traveled through the greater part of Eu- 
rope, and then returned when thirty years old to his native city. 
His travels had been made during a time of general reaction and 
depression, and had given him a bad impression of the condition of 
the Western nations. He reached the conviction that the civiliza- 
tion of these lands, which was the expression of the Roman Catholic 
Church, the Roman law, and feudalism, had passed its zenith and 
was in a decline, and about to yield to a new one originating with 
the orthodox Slavic and Russian races. To the rationalism, the 



6i4 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



alienation, and the spiritual pride of the "West, he opposed the 
trusting humility of the Eussian nationality and the assumed inward 
life of the Oriental ecclesiasticism, to the senility and weariness of 
Roman and German Europe the unbroken youthfulness of the Slavic 
race, from which he expected a new birth of the whole of that quar- 
ter of the world. This miracle was to be worked out by a return 
to the primitive Christianity of the Eastern Church. Together with 
his associates he engaged in the study of the Byzantine fathers, whom 
he considered an inexhaustible fountain of msdom. His first writ- 
ings were of a purely theological nature, and sought to show that 
Roman Catholicism and Protestantism were inwardly hollow, and 
had become unfit to give intellectual and spiritual standing to West- 
ern life, and that a religious renewal was needed to deliver Euro- 
pean civilization from destruction. 

A further development was given these ideas by Ivan Kireyevski, 
a brilliant journalist, who entered with zest into discussions of the 
destructive influence of the reforms which Peter the Great and his 
German helpers had introduced into the country, alleging that they 
were destroying what remained of the old popular freedom, were 
estranging the higher classes from the masses of the nation, were 
substituting ofiicialism for self-government, and were carrying Rus- 
sia into the danger of being involved in the bankruptcy with which 
West-European life was threatened. 

The propagation of these views, which Chomiakoff, Ivan Kireyev- 
ski, and his brother Peter made the work of their life, was at first 
conducted by social means, and was confined to a select circle of the 
higher society of Moscow. Chomiakofif had great conversational 
powers, and a skill in argument and repartee which made him popu- 
lar even with those who opposed his views, and as he was also in 
high esteem as a poet, he occupied a prominent position in the 
ancient capital ; so his views had acquired more or less of currency, 
even before they attracted the attention of the academical circle in 
which the Aksakoif sons and their companions moved. Constan- 
tine Aksakoff embraced his views, and immediately went to advo- 
cating them and carrying them into execution, so far as his personal 
habits were concerned, with the recklessness and ardor of youth. 
He threw away his fashionable hat on the public street, at the re- 
mark of a friend, who suggested, during an evening w^alk, that the 
wearing of French fashions was the sign of a shameful dependence 
on the West, and at the same time took a vow, which he kept liter- 



PAN SLA VIC HOPES AND PENDENCIES. 615 

ally, that he would thereafter wear clothes peculiar to his country. 
After that he wore, whether in the street or in tlie parlor, the sleeve- 
less jacket and high boots of the peasants. To the astonishment of 
all who heard him, he expressed to the venerable Prince Galitzin, 
the Governor-General of the province, the wish that he might live 
to see the day when his Highness would not be ashamed of the dress 
of the Russian people. The use of the French language was avoided 
by himself and his friends ; he transformed the appearance and furnish- 
ing of his father's house ; he sought to restore the characters used in 
writing before the time of Peter, and made use of every occasion 
to illustrate his doctrines practically, by forming connections with 
the people of the lower classes, even going with Peter Kireyevski, 
one Easter Monday, to the doors of one of the churches, to engage 
in the disputations there between the Orthodox and Old Believers' 
sects, according to a custom which had been disused for a hundred 
years by people of the upper classes. 

Two journals, the Moshwityanin and the Mujuh, were estab- 
lished to advocate the views of the new party. Particular impor- 
tance was attached by the writers of the party to the reviving of 
the relations of the Russians with the Slavic peoples outside of 
Russia, and to the study of the profane and ecclesiastical history of 
their country. They were never wearied with depicting ideals of 
the conditions existing before Peter, of denouncing his reforms as 
an apostasy from the holy traditions of the fathers, of repelling the 
intrigues of the hated Germans against freedom., and of painting in 
glowing colors the future of the Slavic world restored to its pristine 
pnrity, and prevailing over the ruins of the Roman-German ci^'ili- 
zation. 

At a later date, they indicated the undivided community of the 
Russian village-system (the Mir) as the fundamental principle of 
Russian life, and devised the doctrine that Russia was destined to 
be called, with the help of the new form of civilization peculiar to 
itself, to deliver the world, free all the bound on earth, and usher in 
the Slavic millennium. They likewise dwelt on the importance of 
restoring the old popular usage of the Artel, a kind of trades-union 
or guild, and on the deep significance of the sectarian life of the 
Old Believers as a genuine popular protest against the ecclesiastical 
pretensions and foreign influence of Peter, and aimed, finally, to 
remove all traces of the reforms which had been introduced during 
the last one hundred and fifty years. " The Petersburg period of 



6i6 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



our history," said one of their articles, ^' has brought Eussia out of 
the simplicity of its national development, and has introduced it to a 
State-life in which its own people have no part. But while the higher 
classes have devoted themselves to the service of the Western idols, 
the people have remained true to their native sanctuaries ; this peo- 
ple must be estabHshed again in the soil of which it has been robbed, 
and be made again the peculiar agents of our development if we 
would be made whole. This can take place only if we return to 
the foundations of our culture which have been deserted. Single 
acquisitions of West-European civilization may have their value for 
us, but we must completely and forever reject the false fundamental 
principle of that civilization. That false principle is that of indi- 
vidualism." The article further held up the Russian community as 
the proper contradiction and denial of that principle, and praised it 
as resting on the genuine Christian principle of humility and self- 
denial. 

Chomiakoff and Constantine Aksakoff died in 1860— the Kireyevski 
brothers and Dimitri Yaluyeff had died a few months before them — 
making, with the elder Aksakoff, six of the founders of the party 
who had died within a few years. Of those who were left, the most 
prominent were A. Kosheleff and Yuri Samarin. With them were 
associated Ivan Aksakoff, Constantine's younger brother. Prince 
Tcherkassky, the Aide during the war of the Grand Duke Mcholas 
and Civil Governor of Bulgaria, Lamanski, the elder Pogodin, and 
Danilevski. Ivan Aksakoff established a weekly journal, the Dien 
(the Day), toward the end of 1861, which he committed to the prin- 
ciple last advocated by his brother, of the adoption of the village 
commune as the corner-stone of the Russian political life. He also 
accepted some points of the programme of the Western Liberals (or 
those of St. Petersburg), and urged them with such skill and force 
that his journal soon surpassed its contemporaries in warmth and 
force of advocacy. By the spring of 1862, the Slavophile organ had 
come to be regarded as one of the most progressive journals of the 
whole Russian press, and the fact was consigned to oblivion that the 
founders of its policy had been regarded by their " Europeanized " 
opponents as reactionists and champions of the old Russian political 
and ecclesiastical systems; in fact, the political demands of Ivan 
Aksakoff and his friends differed only in name from the Liberal 
measures sought by the Young Russian party. What was asked for 
at St. Petersburg, in the name of the nineteenth century, was urged 



PAN SLA VIC HOPES AND TENDENCIES. 6l / 

at Moscow as the inevitable accompaniment of the adoption of 
orthodox and national principles. Western phrases were employed 
at St. Petersburg, Old Russian expressions at Moscow, to cover 
what, when analyzed, were found to be substantially the same 
specific objects. That the Dien laid especial stress upon the con- 
nection of Russia with the other Slavic nations, that it appeared 
more hostile to the Germans than other journals, that it advocated 
the general extension of the world -delivering commimal tenure of 
property and the consequent abolition of rank, were deemed partic- 
ular merits by the excited writers of both capitals ; even its Churchly 
zeal caused no shock, for in this it urged primarily the deliverance 
of the lower spiritual orders from the dominion of the arrogant 
bishops and monks. The higher clergy or monks were looked upon 
as Grrecian, not Russian — an importation from Constantinople — and, 
therefore, as proper objects for the animadversion of a Slavophile 
organ. 

The insurrection which broke out in Poland and Lithuania was a 
source of embarrassment to the Slavophiles and their organs. It 
was difficult to find a way of dealing with it which would not in- 
volve the violation of some of their principles. The Government 
party need not hesitate to suppress the insurrection ; the Western 
Radicals, not being troubled with Old Russian doctrines, could give 
their sympathies, without question, to a people struggling for some 
of the principles of self-government; but to the Slavophiles was 
presented the spectacle of a Slavic people, with whom they should 
sympathize, struggling to preserve, among other things, the suprem- 
acy of the Roman Catholic faith, which it was one of their main 
objects to put down. On the one hand, Russia had no right to con- 
strain the Polish people, and the Roman Catholics of Old Poland 
could never be true citizens of an Orthodox Russia ; on the other 
hand, the freedom of the Poles would involve the Polanizatiou and 
conversion to Roman Catholicism of the White Russians and: 
Lithuanians, who would be subjected to their influence. 

The solution of this dilemma was given by the Moscow Gazette^ 
a journal which had been recently founded by Katkoff and Leon- 
tieff. It demanded a stern suppression of the rebellion, and the* 
forcible deliverance of Lithuania and White Russia from Polish 
and Roman Catholic influences. The Slavophiles fell in with this 
line of policy, and proposed, in addition, the extirpation of the 
Roman Catholic Church, and the forcible subjection of the two 



6i8 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



provinces to Orthodox ecclesiastical supremacy and a communal 
division of the lands. 

From this time, an accord was established between the Slavophiles 
and the party of Kussian centralization, which was led by Katkoff, 
and represented by his Moscow Gazette. The parties differed as to 
some points of policy : thus, Katkoff advocated the Eassianization 
of the Polish Roman Catholic Church, rather than its abolition ; he 
had entertained European views on questions of property and in- 
struction, and had no thought of the extension of the communal 
system ; but those differences have not prevented their working har- 
moniously together under the pressure of questions demanding more 
immediate attention. On the question of the Baltic provinces, 
which followed that of Poland and Lithuania, both parties were 
perfectly agreed. The same measures which the Centrahsts de- 
manded, in the name of the unity of the State, were urged by the 
Slavophiles, as called for by reason of the Slavic origin of the Let- 
tish people, and the conversion of a few thousand of them to the 
Greek Church. Both agreed, also, that the Prussian victories of 
1866 were fraught with danger to Pussia, and that the only ^re 
allies the country could have should be sought in the United States. 

Aksakoff has gradual^ gained in influence within the United 
party. The Moscow Gazette began to lose in popularity, on account 
of its advocacy of the classical system of education, which was out 
of favor, and for other reasons; then Aksakoff established a new 
journal, the MosJcwa, in 1867, and took a stand for the policy of 
protection ; finally, by his marriage with a lady of the Imperial 
Court, he obtained a prominent position in society, in Court circles, 
and in close relations with the Czarevitch. Leontieff died in 1875, 
and Katkoff suffered by bad health so that he lost much of his 
former activity. All of these events worked for the interest of 
Aksakoff. Finally, on the death of Pogodin, the Slavic committee 
at Moscow made him their President, and the Chief of a widely- 
ramified and highly influential society, which, under his direction, 
has exercised an influence over the course of Russian foreign 
policy far exceeding anything that he had ever ventured to antici- 
pate. 

The Slavic committees of Moscow and St. Petersburg, whose 
organization has now been repeated in numerous provincial cities, 
originated in 1857. The Curator of the High School at Moscow, 
Counselor Bachmetieff, in that year founded a society for pro- 



PANS LA VIC HOPES AND TENDENCIES. 619 

moting tlie education of tlie Slavic peo}3le of otlier coim tries 
(especially of Eutlienian Galicia and Bulgaria), which should have 
for its purpose to furnish the means for pursuing academic studies, 
to supply books and other educational requisites to destitute Slavic 
communities, and promote the study of Slavic history and literature. 
The society became very popular, so popular that tlie Grand Duke 
Constantine and other people of prominence were induced to join 
it. Political objects were not thought of at first, but, after a time, 
Pogodin took the place of Bachmetieff as the head of the committee 
at Moscow ; Lamanski gained the control of the committee at St. 
Petersburg; the breaking out of the Polish insurrection turned 
attention to political affairs ; political aims quite overshadowed the 
original objects of the society, and it was turned into an agency for 
the propagation of Panslavism. The attention of the committees 
was not directed to the Turkish, but rather to the Eastern-Austrian 
Slavic lands, particularly to Bohemia and the Ruthenian part of 
Galicia, where the national feeling has been very active since 1863. 
A lively business has been done in circulating Russian books, news- 
papers, church-furnishings, and pictures in these countries, in which 
numerous young priests, teachers, writers, and officers have assisted. 

The principal objects sought by the committees were to effect an 
organization for the spread of a Russian propaganda in the Slavic 
foreign States, the establishment and maintenance of steady rela- 
tions between the Northern and Southern leaders, and to make it 
possible to work in any given case with machinery already adjusted 
and in efficient operation. 

Only two non-Slavic States in Europe, Prussia and Austria, now 
have any considerable proportion of Slavs among their subjects. 
They are, therefore, the particular States whose interests are un- 
favorably affected by the Panslavic movement. They are, how- 
ever, affected in very different degrees. Those of Prussia are 
hardly affected at all, at present the kingdom finding security 
against Panslavic 'agitations in two facts. Eirst, it is the interest 
of the Czar, as the whole course of the war has shown, to cultivate 
the friendship and support of the Emperor of Germany, who is also 
King of Prussia, and for that reason he would not tolerate any 
action originating within his own dominions or inspired from there 
which would give the Emperor any apprehension, or cause him to 
suspect his own good faith ; second, the Slavic subjects of Prussia 
are chiefly Poles, who as Roman Catholics have no sympathy for 



620 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



the Greek Chiircli, but an aversion toward it, and who on aeconnt 
of national grudges hate Russia, and everything that is Eussian, with 
the utmost intensity. Austria, on the other hand, has a very large 
Slavic population, a considerable portion of which is attached to the 
Greek Church, and is already affected with Panslavistic ideas. The 
Slavophiles have a promising field for their propagandism among 
these people, and have already made themselves dangerous to the 
peace of the Empire. 

The Czechs of Austria, notwithstanding the predominance of 
Roman Catholics among them, have for many years exhibited a 
warm interest in the Panslavistic movements, hoping by their aid 
to achieve their own independence. They have caused the Gov- 
ernment considerable anxiety by their persistence in seeking au- 
tonomy and their refusal to acknowledge that they had any common 
concern in public affairs with the other nationality. Within the 
last year, the Roman Catholic priests have taken alarm at some of 
the religions aspects of the movement, and have forbidden their 
flocks to participate in the demonstrations, but the warning has 
been given too late to permit the expectation that it will be 
effective to restrain an agitation ^^ hich has become so extensive and 
gained so much momentum as that for Bohemian autonomy. 

A report made in 1878, by Mr. Grunwald, an administrative officer 
of the county of Sohler, in Hungary, makes a formidable exhibition 
of the progress which Panslavisui has made in ten counties of 
Northern Hungary, where is gathered a population of 1,800,000 
Slavic inhabitants, consisting partly of Greek-Church Ruthenians 
and partly of Roman Catholic Slovaks. Aided by the similarity of 
faith, language, and liturgy, the Russian propaganda has made ex- 
tensive progress, and gained a firm foothold among the Ruthenians. 
The churches and schools are liberally pensioned by the Russians, 
and their designs are therefore materially assisted by the priests and 
teachers. The Hungarian Government has endeavored to counter- 
act the evils produced by this condition, by exercising its authority 
in the appointment of the bishops, but its bishops find their posi- 
tions the reverse of easy, and their authority very restricted. 

The priests and teachers are also the leaders of the agitation 
among the Slovaks. Of Y08 Roman Catholic pnests in the ten 
counties which form the subject of the report, 268 belonged to the 
Panslavic party, and 99 of the 178 Lutheran pastors ; and they 
were of the extreme wing of the party, the Lutherans being par- 



r AN SLA VIC HOPES AND TENDENCIES. 



621 



ticiilarly zealous. A Slavic national casino and a Slavic printing- 
office have been established at the capital of the county of Thurocz ; 
the Panslavists appear to be masters of the place, and the post- 
master is an agent of the Panslavic committee, and was reported to 
exercise his functions in such a manner as to keep the movements 
of the Government officials constantly under the inspection of their 
propaganda. Numerous attractive papers are published by the com- 
mittee, some of which were distributed gratuitously, and two gym- 
nasia were described as " real hatching-places of Panslavism." The 
story that Russian money is circulated liberally in Hungary is pro- 
nounced to be no creation of the fancy, for the books of the post- 
master before spoken of contain accounts of monthly remittances 
from Eussia. This report gives the confirmation of an official 
declaration to the boasts which the Panslavists have made of the 
extent of their operations in the Austrian Empire, and to the prog- 
ress which their cause has made among the people. What has 
taken place in the ten counties of Northern Hungary has been going 
on, with such differences in methods and degree as circumstances 
would produce, in other centers of Slavic population in the 
Austrian Empire, till the whole political structure of the State is 
exposed to a constant danger of a breaking out of a contention of 
race interests. 

The Slavic committees of Eussia were secretly very active dur- 
ing the Bosnian and Herzegovinian insurrections, and were in reaKty 
their main support during the winter of 18Y5 and 18Y6, and until war 
was declared by Servia and Montenegro. Seeing that Herzegovina, 
both on account of the character of the country and by reason of its 
nearness to Montenegro, offered the most promising field of opera- 
tions, they gave their principal assistance to the insurrectionists in 
that district. Their deputies were stationed at Ragusa and Cettigne 
in the latter part of 1875, when the movements of the insurgents 
had come to a stand-still, and the insurrection broke out very soon 
afterward, although it was in the middle of the winter, with re- 
newed ^dolence. The rendezvous of the plotters was at the house 
of Colonel Monteverde, afterward chief of staff to General Tcher- 
nayeff in Servia, at Ragusa ; their funds were distributed through 
the banking-house of the Messrs. Eoscovitch, at Ragusa, and the 
most effective agent of the committees was Mr. Jonin, Eussian 
Consul-General at the same place. TLie money with which the in- 
surrection was supported was collected under the guise of taking 



622 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



care of tlie poorrayahs and fugitives in Dalmatia, Montenegro, and 
Servia, and the wounded ; but the real destination of the money 
may be judged from the remark made by M. Yassiltchikoff, Di- 
rector of the Hospital at Cettigne, to the writer from whom we 
derive the history of this proceeding : * "In order to tend the 
wounded, one must first procure them to tend. That will cost us 
half our money ; the other half we will scrupulously employ in 
healing them." 

Ivan Aksakoff was appointed Chief of the committee at Moscow, 
in place of Fogodin, in the spring of 1876. The declaration of war 
against Turkey by Servia and Montenegro, three months later, gave 
the Slavopliiles an opportunity for actual work that they had never 
enjoyed before. That the Czar and numerous high officers, includ- 
ing the Chief of Police, were abroad, was a favorable circumstance 
for them. They appreciated the situation, and took advantage of 
it ; and during the summer of 1876, the two committees spread 
their nets over the whole Empire, and soon had all Russia entangled 
in their meshes. They gave the initiation to the numerous festivals 
and charitable associations by which the interest of the nation in the 
Servian war was awakened and kept up, life was infused into the 
volunteer movement, sanitary supplies were collected for Belgrade 
and provisions for Bosnia. In consequence of this activity, the 
Czar was met, when he retunied from Germany, with a cry for war 
which he could not well io:nore. The agents of the committee 
stationed at Belgrade, Moscow, and St. Petersburg, superintended 
at the former place the distribution of the collected gifts, and at the 
other places looked out for a continuance of the supply. The recruit- 
ing and fitting out of volunteers was attended to in Russia, the 
assignment of the recruits and the adjustment of their relations with 
the native officers, in Servia, aU under the auspices of the society. 

The press was engaged in the service of the committees. Provision 
was made for the furnishing of correspondence and articles in behalf 
of the movement ; the interest of the clergy, of prominent women, 
young men, and young women, was engaged, and sympathy with 
the cause of the Servian brothers was made popular in all grades of 
society, and, above all, fashionable. Men of good military standing 
were enlisted among the volunteers ; women of the rank of the 
Princess Shachovsky engaged in work for the care of the sick; 



* Macmillan's Magazine^ November, 1877. This writer profesees to vrrite from per,soiial 
observations and acquaintance. 



PAN SLA VIC HOPES AND TENDENCIES. 623 

counselors interested themselves in the conduct of the sanitary 
trains ; excursions, fairs, concerts were projected in all parts of the 
Empire, and returned liberal sums to the treasury of the society ; 
the contribution-box was presented at every dinner and large meet- 
ing ; the cause was introduced at every church service and festival 
and school-meeting ; the officers of the Government observed the 
activity with respect to the volunteers, without showing anxiety, 
believing that it afforded a safety-valve for the unquiet spirits of 
the Empire. It proved, however, to be the source of complications, 
for, at the very height of its activity, the Government was compelled, 
by the collapse of the war and the critical situation of the volunteers, 
to come out from its position in the background and take the lead 
of the movement. 

In the cu'cles around the Czar and the central offices, opinions 
were greatly divided. The women, the younger officers, and the 
priests made no secret of their enthusiasm for the Servian cause ; 
the higher dignitaries, the men of the counting-houses, the Germans, 
and the Conservatives of the old school held aloof from it. They 
made use of the defeat of the Servian army, of Tchernayeff's un- 
authorized proclamation of a Servian kingdom, and of other events 
of the war, which involved danger to Russian honor, as arguments 
with which, nursing the Czar's aversion to aU things that savored of 
conspiracy or disorder, they hoped to prevent his giving sympathy to 
the movement. The war party maintained that the nation had 
abeady gone too far in the support of the Bosnian and Servian com- 
plaints, to stop without harm to Russian influence in foreign 
diplomacy. A strong word from the Czar and a significant flourish 
of the sword would be potent to compel the Porte to make uncon- 
ditional concessions, would lead to a triumxph of Imperial influence, 
and would serve to restrain the excesses of the national movement. 
There was force in the views of both parties, and the Czar sought a 
middle course, when on the 11th of November, 1876, he made that 
address at Moscow, in which, after condemning the course of Servia 
in. the severest and most unequivocal language, he declared that 
Russia must fulfill the pledges to the Slavic peoples which Servia 
had made. The order for the mobilization of the army was issued, 
wliich all Europe regarded as foreshadowing a declaration of war, 
and at the same time enlistments for Servia were forbidden, the 
returning volunteers were received with tokens of displeasure at the 
course they had taken, Tchernayeff was forbidden to return to 



624 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



Russia for some time, and the agitations, which had been publicly 
permitted for five months, were suddenly quieted. The pro- Servian 
enthusiasm of the past summer was afterward mentioned in courtly 
circles, with a shrug of the shoulders and a smile, as a " folly." 

Aksakoff and his associates showed themselves equal to the diffi- 
culties of the situation. They received warnings and notices from 
the Press-administration, that during the course of the conference at 
Constantinople, communications concerning the agitations in favor 
of war, and particularly publications of the transactions of the Slavic 
committees, were forbidden. They well understood the change that 
had taken place in the views and decisions of the Sovereign ; but 
they did not deviate from the policy which they had hitherto 
followed with so much advantage. 

They construed the speech of the Czar into a promise to answer 
the wishes of the people, and bring them to a true fulfillment. 
Aksakoff, with great skill in sophistical interpretation, declared that 
the divine Czar had done no more than give legal expression to the 
voice of his people, and had expressed the firm determination 
of Russia to continue on the road it had already traveled. Only 
short-sighted fools could doubt what the Government would eventu- 
ally do, and what it owed in respect to external affairs. As soon as 
the first indignation of the Government had passed away, the com- 
mittee silently resumed its interrupted labors. What could not be 
spoken in public places was said, without hesitation, in the conver- 
sation of parlors. Pains were taken to secure an acceptable com- 
prehension of the situation, and to combat the "unjust judgment" 
which had overtaken the Servian champions and their comrades, in 
consequence of a single mishap. The course of events at Constanti- 
nople worked admirably into their hands by seeming to confirm all 
that they had said about the duplicity of Western diplomacy and 
the obstinacy of the Porte, so that they even gained ground among 
their former opponents. It became known in the beginning of De- 
cember that the attention of his Majesty had been directed to Prince 
Tcherkassky, Aksakoff 's most trusted associate, with a view of making 
use of his administrative ability. A little while afterward, the 
Prince visited the headquarters of the active army at Kishenev, 
and his friends at Moscow and St. Petersburg felt that he had 
gained his end. His appointment as civil aide to the futm'e Com- 
mander-in-chief of Bulgaria spoke volumes, and care was taken that 
the news, and its significance, should be spread into the quarters 
where the best use could be made of it. 



PAN SLA VIC HOPES AND TENDENCIES. 62$ 

"When, at the beginning of the new year, the conference had 
proved a failure, and it was evident that the policy of the Govern- 
ment would be changed, but before the censorial 2)rohibition had 
been removed, the Moscow Gazette published an address which 
Aksakoff had made at a meeting of the Moscow committee. This 
address denounced the attempt to effect a diplomatic mediation 
between Eussia and the West as treachery, and reproached the 
wavering counselors of the Czar that they were wandering in 
darkness, that they had taken the false lights of European ideas as 
their guide, were wandering in diplomacy, and had accepted, without 
rebuking them, affronts which had brought blushes to the face of 
the mortified nation. The blood of our slain brothers," he continued, 
^' is not yet avenged, but is treated, as if it were the blood of Hot- 
tentots, with shame and scorn." After a strong exhortation to 
resistance against the " treachery which has spun its webs in Eussia," 
he closed with the assertion that " we have behind us the people, 
before us the words which the Czar has spoken from tlie heights of 
the Kremlin." The number of the Moscow Gazette Avhich contained 
this speech was confiscated. But thousands of copies of the speech 
escaped the censorship, and were circulated all over the Empire. 

Two months later Aksakoff made another speech before the com- 
mittee. He was able to announce the complete and public tiiumph 
of the cause to which he had unequivocally devoted himself in the 
darkest hour. War was declared, the Slavic committee had been 
converted, with the approval of the sovereign, into a Slavic Benev- 
olent Union, to which its President was able to announce that the 
time for mere private activity was over, that the labors which had 
been begun by the committee could now be continued in the full 
light of day, and that his Majesty the Czar had been pleased to 
intrust to the civil aid of the commander-in-chief the duty of keep- 
ing up a direct intercourse with the Union. A delegate of the Union 
would accompany his Highness to the scene of the war, and he, the 
President, would take care that the great work should be maintained 
at the height of the standard of its national significance. 

An enthusiastic meeting of the Eussian Club at Warsaw, on the 
23d of May, 18Y7, was addressed by Professor Mkitsky, Professor 
of Eussian History at the University of Warsaw, who spoke of 
Slavism, as the new factor which had appeared on the historical' 
scene. Slavic solidarity had now come forth as a colossal power, 
controlling millions. The Slavs appeared before the eyes of aston- 



626 



, THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



islied Europe as one family, animated with one tliought, one 
feeling, one ^vill. The whole Slavic world, with Prague at its head, 
encompassed the holy Eussia, which had gained, so to speak, mil- 
lions of new sons. It had undertaken a new historical labor — the 
freeing of the Slavs — and had inscribed the Slavic cause " upon 
its banners. Another speaker said that the Sagas related that in 
the old times three brothei^, Czech, Lech, and Rus, had come from 
the Danube to the IN'orth and separated ; " God grant that they may 
meet again on the Danube." Speeches harmonious with the others 
were made with reference to the Slavs in Germany and Bohemia. 

On the 8th of Xovember, 1877, Aksakoff made a noteworthy 
address before the Slavic committee at Moscow, in which he 
regarded the war from a national Eussian point of view, and paid 
as little regard to the interests and aspirations of the West of 
Europe as to those of Turkey. He ascribed the poor success which 
had attended the Eussian operations in the war to the errors of the 
leaders of the nation, or the " elder brothers," who had committed 

the deadly sin which is the root of all our social evils ; the sin of 
forgetting Eussian nationality." The processes of the organic life of 
the people could be perceived only by a few, who had raised them- 
selves by thought and education above the ordinary level. The 
Eussian common people had little historic knowledge and no 
abstract conceptions about the mission of Eussia in the Slavonic 
world ; but tliey had historical instinct, and they clearly perceived 
one thing, that the war was caused neither by the caprice of an 
autocratic Czar nor by unintelligible political considerations. Free 
from all ambition and all desire of military glory, they accepted the 
war as a moral duty imposed by Providence. The Eussian 
nation," he said, looks upon this war, not as the outcome of the 
absolute will of the Czar, but as its own cause — a sacred, inevitable 
work, a war for the Orthodox religion and the whole Slavic brother- 
hood. The popular movement of 1876 made the war inevitable. 
That which the national conscience pronounced to be an undoubted 
moral duty was at the same time the historical mission of Eussia 
as the head and representative of the Orthodox and Slavic world, 
which has not yet been entirely created, and awaits its future de- 
velopment in history. All the importance of Eussia in the world is 
based on her national and religious individuality, which has grown 
up from her internal strength and her spiritual elements, differing 
entirely from the elements of Western Europe ; it depends^ in a 



PANSLA VIC HOPES AND TENDENCIES. 627 

word, on her Ortliodoxy and lier Slavism. Eussia will never be able 
to attain her complete development until she brings about the 
victory of tliese spiritual elements in their oi'iginal dwelling-places, 
or, at least, until she restores to complete legal equality the peoples 
related to her by blood and feeling. If Russia does not liberate the 
Orthodox East from the Turkish yoke and from the physical and 
intellectual encroachments of the West, she will become an organism 
with a defective circulation, condemned to remain forever a cripple. 
The war was therefore as much an imperative necessity for her as 
the defense of her own existence, or as the natural progress of her 
development, of her growth, as the stream of her historical 

shaping Diplomacy, that genuine figure of want of character 

and of national indifferentism with an unfeeling heart, which shuns 
men, began its activity in favor of the enemies of Kussia and 
wholly against us. Europe was quick to believe the report of the 
unwillingness and unreadiness of Russia to make war, and stretched 
us upon the rack of diplomatic concessions. Turkey is fighting to the 
death for her religion and her race, while our diplomatists and 
conservatives tell us that the war is only one for humanity and 
civilization, not one for religion and race. But if it is not a war 
for religion and race, it is an absurdity. Though conservatives may 
be horrified at the ideas of Slavism and Orthodoxy, it is in those 
ideas that our strength lies, and they alone can lead us to victory. 
Any misunderstanding on this point is dangerous. Away with the 
senseless and colorless device of the interests of Europe ! ' Russia 
could not retreat or stop,' though all Europe should place itself as 
a wall in our path. Retreat would be treachery toward the sufifer- 
ing Slavs, treason to an historical mission, and the beginning of 
death. Let us accept new burdens and make new sacrifices. The 
historical path of the nation has been and is still surrounded and 
obstructed by many obstacles and many trials ; but with the help 
of God it has. overcome them in the past, is overcoming them in 
the present, and will overcome them in the future." 
34 



CHAPTEE Y. 



THE PERIL OF AUSTRIA. 

The immediate Concern of Austria in the Integrity of Turkey— Austro-Hungarian In- 
terests alone Kegarded— The Heterogeneous and Discordant Populations of the 
Empire-Kingdom — Decline of Austrian Predominance in Germany — The Compro- 
mise with Hungary — Troubles arising out of the Diversities of National and Race 
Interests — The Czechs and the Poles — Discontent of the non-Magyar Nationalities 
of HuLigarj' — Centrifugal Tendencies in the Empire and Kingdom — Hostile Designs 
of the Panslavists — The Magyars Friends of Turkey and Enemies of Russia — Any 
Change in the Eastern Situation Dangerous to Austria — Hungary — Views of Hun- 
garian Statesmen — Gen. Klapka — Louis Kossuth — Jealousy of the Visit of Signor 
Crispi, and his Proposition for a ConfederatiDu of Slavic States and the Enlarge- 
ment of Greece — Pro-Russian Influences at the Court of Vienna. 

We have alluded, in the two preceding chapters, to the manner 
in which the tranquillity of the Austrian Empire is imperilled by 
the national aspirations of Rumania and Servia on the one hand, 
and by the agitations of the Panslavists on the other. It is the 
opinion of those who are best acquainted with the affairs of Eastern 
Europe, that the internal condition of this Empire will give rise to 
the next complications which wdll occur in the East after the ques- 
tions relating to Turkey are settled ; nay, more, that the settlement 
of the Turkish Question will have an immediate and important in- 
fluence upon the aspect of those affairs. In view of all these facts, 
it seems necessary for an adequate understanding of the bearings of 
the Eastern Question, and the position of affairs in reference to it, 
to give a more particular account of the relations of Austria to the 
late dependencies of Turkey, of the manner in which they are 
affected by the adjustments now going on, and of the views of 
prominent statesmen of the Empire on the subject. 

The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy is more immediately and deeply 
concerned in affairs relating to Turkey, and the adjustment of the 
Eastern Question, than any other State. Even England and Russia 
must give place to it in the extent to which their interests are in- 
volved, for their interests in Turkey are external, and relate, at the 

most, to colonial matters and the routes of trade ; while, with Aus- 

(628) 



THE PERIL OF AUSTRIA. 



629 



tria, the internal social conditions, and the integrity of tlie most 
essential parts of the Empire, are affected by whatever takes place 
in the European provinces of Turkey. The Empire is so surrounded 
by Eussian and Turkish territory, and has so many populations 
which are affiliated by race, i-eligion, or language, or all of them, 
with contiguous populations in those States, that no movement can 
take place in either which will not be reflected in some of the prov- 
inces of Austria and Hungary. 

So closely and predominantly are the Austro- Hungarian interests 
interwoven with the Kusso-Turkish issues that the minds of the 
statesmen of the Empire, in considering the Eastern Question, are 
occupied with them to the exclusion of all the other questions of 
popular and national rights, of religious privileges, and of humanity, 
with which the discussions in all other countries are diversified. 
These questions are important, they admit, and deserve consideration 
by those whose position permits them to regard them, but they can 
only look to their own preservation. The text of all the official 
Austrian and Hungarian declarations since the complications began 
which led to the war, has been the same. The Imperial-royal Gov- 
ernment (imperial as to Austria, royal as to Hungary) must be con- 
trolled in its course, not by the consideration of Turkish interests, 
or of Slavic interests, or of Christian interests, but of Austro-Hun- 
garian interests. These interests were thought to demand the full 
maintenance of the territorial integrity of Turkey, but for quite dif- 
ferent reasons from those which actuated English statesmen in seek- 
ing the same end. 

Austria is, with the exception of Russia, the most heterogeneous 
as to its population, of all the European States ; but while in Russia 
one race has an overwhelming preponderance, Austria enjoys no 
such advantage. In its population several races of opposite sympa- 
thies are nearly evenly balanced. Besides Austria proper, and the 
provinces which have been cut off from other kingdoms, the Empire- 
Kingdom embodies the remains of such once important kingdoms as 
Bohemia, a part of Poland, and Hungary. The people of these 
kingdoms have no sympathy with each other, and one of them, 
Hungary, is worse divided against itself than is the Empire as a 
whole. 

The Austrian Empire began in effect to go to pieces in 1859, when 
it lost its Italian provinces. Until 1866, Austria considered itself a 
German State, and the leader of Germany. The victories of Briis- 



630 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



sia in that year forced it to retii-e from active participation in Ger- 
man affairs, and to endeavor to build itself up as an East-European 
State. Its first step, and a ^ise one, vras to reconcile the Hmiga- 
rians. Through the " Ausgleich " or compromise, of which the Baron 
Yon Beust was the principal author, it restored to Hungaiy, in 1867, 
the substance of its former constitutional privileges, recognizing it 
as an integral and at the same time independent part of the monarchy, 
of which the Emperor of Austria was separately crowned the king, 
with a distinct title. The kingdom was given a separate Diet and a 
special ministry of its own, a representation in the General Imperial 
Ministry, and a joint board of the two divisions of the Empire was 
constituted to meet annually and arrange certain matters common to 
both. In the division of the Empire, Croatia, Transylvania, Slavo- 
nia, and the military frontier were attached to Hungary, and Croa- 
tia was given a local autonomy. The other provinces were attached 
to Austria, or the Cis-Leithan division, as it is sometimes called. 
The result of this arrangement was to convert the Hungarians from 
discontented subjects to strong supporters of the Empii-e. The Cro- 
atians have seemed on the whole satisfied with it ; but the Czechs, 
or Bohemians and Moravians, and the Poles, have never accepted it, 
but have been made only more eager to secure like privileges for 
themselves. Cis-Leithean Austria contains in round numbers about 
Y,000,000 Germans, 5,000,000 Czechs, 2,500,000 each of Poles and 
Kuthenians, 2,000,000 Slovenians, 587,500 Italians (mostly in the 
Tyrol and Dalmatia), 207,900 Eumanians in Bukowina ; Hungary 
contains about 5,500,000 Magyars, 2,000,000 each of Germans and 
Czechs, 2,500,000 Eumanians in Transylvania, and about an equal 
number of Croats and Servians. As a whole, the Empire contains 
9,000,000 Germans, 5,700,000 Magyars, 16,258,300 Slavs of all 
names, 2,700,000 Eumanians, and Italians, who though they num- 
ber less than 600,000, form a province. AH of these people but the 
Magyars and Germans have sympathies averse to the present system 
of government. 

The diversity of nationalities is the primary cause of all the 
losses which the Empire has suffered, and is the source of all the 
intestine commotions which still afflict it. The Czechs in Bohemia 
have stood in firm opposition to the Government ever since the 
compromise with Hungary was effected, and have agitated actively 
for a like recognition of their nationality. They remember the 
glories of the ancient kingdom of Bohemia, and express indignation 



THE PERIL OF AUSTRIA. 



631 



that it lias been extinguished and put under the hands of Germans 
and Magyars, and have many times refused to be represented in the 
Reichsrath. In 1873, the Austrian Government, fearing that the 
Slavic factionists might manage to secure so large a representation 
in the Reichsrath as to endanger the Constitution, secured an amend- 
ment to the electoral law providing for the election of deputies im- 
mediately by the people instead of through the provincial Diets, 
which were so imbued with hostility to the Government that it was 
felt they could not be trusted. In the next year, the Czechs pre- 
sented to the Emperor, on the occasion of his visiting Bohemia, pe- 
titions for the decentralization of the Empire and the restoration of 
Bohemian autonomy, some of which were so strongly worded that 
it was deemed prudent not to take public notice of them. The 
Galicians, or Poles, manifest a similar spirit, but in a less demon- 
strative manner. Their immediate aim is to secure the autonomy 
of their province, and use the advantage thus gained to form a 
nucleus around which to rebuild a Polish Empire. They have an 
intense hostility toward Russia. 

The discontent in Hungary is also very great, A convention of 
Croats, Slavonians, Rumanians, Slovaks, and Ruthenians, which was 
held at Temesvar in 1868, adopted a programme favoring a confeder- 
ation according to nationahties, protested against the union of Tran- 
sylvania with Hungary, and adopted a resolution approving the 
efforts to upset the compromise of 1867, because its provisions were 
fatal to the national rights of the non-Magyar races. The Rumanians 
also held a separate conference, the resolutions of which advocated 
abstention from the elections because the claims of the Rumanian 
nation had been disregarded by the Reichstag at Pesth. 

The Slavs of both divisions of the Empire, notwithstanding their 
disagreement in many respects, have all united in demanding the 
recognition of their several idioms as the language of instruction in 
the districts where they prevail ; the Croatian s, Servians, and Slovens, 
as well as all the other tribes of Austria, have now a complete 
system of national instruction, embracing elementary schools for 
every town and village ; a large number of gymnasia, progymnasia, 
real and special schools. A complete university has been established at 
Agram, which has been organized after the model of the German 
universities. Compulsory school laws have been adopted in Austria 
proper and Hungary, the effect of which wiU be to raise the Sla\'ic 
peoples to the level of the more advanced Teutonic nations, at least 



632 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



so far as the universality of education is concerned. The educational 
system will also, so long as the Slavic languages are recognized, con- 
tribute to the strengthening of their national feelings, and enlarge 
their capacity and opportunity to make them manifest. 

The security of the Empire and kingdom is thus endangered by 
centrifugal tendencies which are powerful in every part. In case it 
should be divided, there would be but little difficulty in deciding 
upon the fate of its component nationalities. The Germans desire 
to have a part again in the affairs of the German Empire, and to be 
one with the great German people, and are already not a little dis- 
satisfied that they are set off away in the East with a number of 
nationalities with which they have no common interest. If they 
were sure they could continue to rule the nation, the case might be 
different, but they are not sure of it. They have had to divide 
their powers with the Hungarians, only to see other nationalities 
coming up to claim their share in the division. They labor under 
the constant apprehension that they will sometime become only a 
unit among the o^her constituents of the State, and this apprehen- 
sion keeps them desirous of asserting their German relationship 
while there is yet time. The Czechs and Poles, as we have seen, 
aspire to a separate existence, or a predominant influence. The 
Rumanians hope to be made a part of the Rumanian nation. The 
Croats and Servians in the Banat and the military frontier dream 
of becoming part of the renewed Servia and of seeing united 
Servia and Bosnia with themselves formed into a Servian or Croatian 
Empire. South Tyrol and Trieste are gravitating to Italy. Over 
all the Slavic nationalities, moreover, hovers the great Panslavic 
scheme threatening to absorb them and unite them in a grand Slavic 
Empire, which Russian agents are industriously propagating through- 
out the country. Some of the Slavs, it is true, are averse to this 
plan in the exact form in which the Russian agents urge it, because 
it is alhed with the Greek Church, while they are Roman Catholic, 
and it interferes with their desire to restore their own kingdoms, but 
they are, nevertheless, seeking a Slavic independence, and are al- 
ways ready to assail the Austrian and Hungarian regimes. 

We have shown in the previous chapter how the general aims 
and policy of the Panslavists are detrimental to the integrity of 
the Austrian Empire, and have cited examples of the character and 
extent of their operations among its Slavic populations. The fact 
of their entertaining a settled design of dismembering this Empire, 



THE PERIL OF AUSTRIA. 



633 



as the State which stands most in the way of the realization of their 
schemes, is confessed and made prominent in the work on The 
Military Strength of Kussia," published by the Russian General 
Eostislav Fadaieff, a Panslavist, in 1869. According to his re- 
markably frank exposition of the designs of his party, it is the duty 
of Russia not only to extend its territory in Europe, but also to 
make allies of the kindred tribes and peoples of the Orthodox faith 
outside of the Empire, and confirm their attachment by the closest 
relations. One State, Austria, is an obstacle to the consummation 
of this object. Austria, therefore, must be considered Russia's 
natural, nearest, and most dangerous enemy. The condition of 
enmity exists especially in respect to the Eastern Question, which, 
according to, General Fadaieff, is a living question for Austria as well 
as for Russia, except that it affects them in an opposite direction. 
General Fadaieff then delineates the strategical and political situation 
of Austria in reference to the Eastern Question, showing how easily 
and sensibly Austria could affect the Russian interests, and concludes 
that there is but one means of opposing this wicked power. Russia 
must take in hand, with decisive will, the cause of all the Slavs and 
all the Orthodox. " The Greeks and the Rumanians are not neces- 
sary for Russia, but they are dear and welcome, because they are of 
the Orthodox faith. The Polish Question will be ours, if we make 
it a Slavic Question. We must make the Poles realize that they 
are a Slavic people. We must proceed, in a similar manner, toward 
the other Slavic peoples. Russia must arouse in them the convic- 
tion that their national leaders have their support and reserves there,, 
that every Slav has there his home." Fadaieff's scheme of recos- 
struction of the Slavic nationalities contemplated the autonomy of 
the States, which should, however, constitute together a single Em- 
pire as before the world, and place the conduct of international and 
military affairs in the hands of the great Slavic Czar, their common 
head, while their own particular rulers should belong to branches of 
the same family. The first step toward the attainment of this ob- 
ject should be the restoration, within ten years, of Ismail on the 
Lower Danube and of East Galicia. The later proceeding's of the 
Panslavic leaders form a striking commentary upon the sincerity 
of these declarations, and do not tend to diminish the alarm that 
the Austrian s feel in the face of them. 

A total dissolution of the Austrian Empire would leare the 
Magyars in a sad state, for they would be scattered all over Hun- 



634 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



gaiy among the other nationalities, and deprived of the power of 
maintaining their existence as a State. 

The apprehension of such a dissolution is real and active among 
the Austro-Hungarian statesmen, and has guided and go vera ed their 
Eastern policy for a long time. The Magyars are, moreover, bitter 
enemies of the Eussians and warm friends of the Turks, for reasons 
peculiarly their own. They are affiliated by race with the Turks, 
being Turanians of a related stock, and having come, centuries be- 
fore the Turks appeared, from nearly the same part of the world 
which was the birth-place of the latter. They remember also how 
Eussia helped to crush their national movement by force in 1848, 
and how, after it was crushed, Turkey received and befriended their 
exiled patriots. For a similar reason they are cool toward the 
Croatians, because the Croatian ban Jellachich and Croatian soldiers 
were the principal instrument of its own military force which Aus- 
tria used to suppress their rebellion. 

TTo change can be made in the relations of the European depend- 
encies of Turkey that does not seem to be fraught with great dangers 
to Austria-Hungary. If Eussia annexes any of them, its power will 
be strengthened to the weakening of Austria, and a fearful impulse 
will be given to the Panslavic movement. If they are made inde- 
pendent, or are formed into a confederation, the non-German and 
non-Magyar provinces of Austria and Hungary will be incited to 
demand to be joined to them or to be made autonomous States. A 
proposition to give one of them to Austria, such as has been sug- 
gested as a possible means of allaying Austrian jealousy, is men- 
tioned with expressions of dread, because it will only add another 
Slavic nationality to a State which is already burdened with too 
many such incongruous elements. The Magyars especially depre- 
cate such a scheme, because they are already in a minority in Hun- 
gary, and its operation would be to increase the numerical superiority 
of the dissatisfied races. 

The effect which the establishment of the autonomy of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina would probably have upon the tranquiUity of the ad- 
joining Austrian and Hungarian provinces is set forth, in entire har- 
mony with these views, by an English writer, whose article appeared 
while the negotiations respecting the fate of the Turkish provinces 
were still the subject of an active discussion. He said, in the Lon- 
don Spectator of February 23, 1878 : 

The principal Slav provinces of Austria border on Bosnia and 



THE PERIL OF AUSTRIA. 



Herzegovina; the population is a difficult one to govern, especially 
that portion which possesses a quasi- Italian element, and it must be 
admitted that Austria has been fairly successful. To give an auto- 
nomical form of government to the two Turkish provinces, to make 
them practically independent, with an amount of freedom such as it 
is politic as well as necessary to give to Bulgaria, would no doubt 
result in an unmixed benefit to the populations; but it would un- 
questionably raise a very strong feeling in Croatia and Dalmatia, 
which would no doubt spread into the adjacent provinces, and put a 
strong disturbing force into the hands of Italy. From my knowledge 
of the peoples of these countries, loyal as they are now to the Aus- 
trian Crown, I do not believe they would long remain so ; and con- 
stituted as the Empire of Austria is, occasion would never be want- 
ing for the creation of disturbances which would shake the monarchy 
itseK, if, indeed, any lengthened continuance of them did not dis- 
solve it. "We should, in fact, be only closing the Eastern Question 
to open an Austrian-Slavonic Question." 

Thus the Austro-Hungarian nation is placed in a position in which 
it is liable at any day to have to face the question of what excuse it 
has for continuing to exist. 

Although the Government has refrained from making official ex- 
pressions bearing directly upon these points, utterances and acts are 
not wanting to show that it has had them in view, while the indi- 
vidual expressions of the journals and of the leading men upon the 
subject, especially in Hungary, have been very free. Semi-official 
communications were published in the Hungarian papers in May, 
1877, which were intended to appease the agitation for a war with 
Bussia. They conveyed the assurance that the Government would, 
under no circumstances whatever, approve the union of Servia, BoS' 
nia, and Herzegovina into a separate State under an Austrian Arch- 
duke, " as such an arrangement would not afford any guarantee to 
Hungary against the prejudicial influence likely to be exercised by 
such a State upon Hungarian interests," and gave, as among the 
points of Count Andrassy's programme: "The position of Eu- 
mania is to be regulated only in accordance with our interests. Ser- 
via is not to annex anything, l^o large Slavic State is to be estab- 
lished in South-eastern Europe. A Russian protectorate over the 
Danubian territories is out of the question." The apprehension was 
often expressed, that if the destruction of the Turkish Empire were 
allowed, Austria-Hungary would be the next object of attack, and it 



636 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



would soon share the fate of its Ottoman neighbor. Gen. Klapka 
made a speech at an important public meeting in Pressburg, on the 
13th of August, 1877, in which he said that the conviction had been 
reached in Hungary that if Russia succeeded in the East, the turn of 
Hungary would come next. What can we substitute, he asked, for the 
Turks after they shall have been driven out of Europe ? Is there 
a single people in European Turkey which would be in a condition 
to display one-tenth of the force with which the Turks have defend- 
ed their cause ? But if, contrary to our hopes and wishes, Turkey is 
overcome by Russia, we should ask, what will be the consequence to 
Hungary and the Austro-Hungarian monarchy ? .... After Servia, 
Rumania, Montenegro, and Bosnia are brought completely under 
Russian control, and are made to do whatever Russia orders them, 
and Bulgaria has shared their fate, Russia will be lord of European 
Tm-key and will command the mouths of the Danube. If Constan- 
tinople is made a free city, it will only be to fall finally into the 
pocket of Russia. But can we hope that these people, after they 
have been enabled to gratify their morbid aspirations — Rumania for 
a great Daco-Rumanian kingdom, and Servia for a great Servian 
kingdom — will be satisfied with the country freed from Turkey, and 
will not seek to possess Rumania, all the Rumanians, and Servia, the 
so-called Yoyvodina, Batschca, and Slavonia ? While if Turkey pre- 
vails, it is plain that these people will pursue their development in 
other and peaceful ways, and Turkey itself will remain our true 
friend, possessing a power in our favor, the worth of which has been 
displayed even just now on twenty battle-fields." 

A few days afterward, Louis Kossuth addressed a letter to a pub- 
lic meeting, in which he advocated efforts to prevent a Russian con- 
quest, urging that, if they were not made, the Czar would be 
regarded as the great Panslavist leader; that the aspirations of 
Panslavism to rule the world would be grouped around the Czar- 
ism ; that this would be the star to lead the way of the movement, 
its lord to command it, its Messiah, for whose call it would wait ; its 
God, whom it would worship, and that out of Panslavism would 
be developed Pan-Czarism ; but that, if the Czar were sent home 
without a victory, the charm would be broken, and the Panslavist 
aspirations would lose their spur. Then the different Slavic nations 
would seek their salvation, not in the culture of Czarism, which only 
leads to Russification, and into the fetters of slavery and brutality, but 
in the upholding and elevation of their own individuality. This, 



THE PERIL OF AUSTRIA, 



lie said, is the way that leads to the gain of freedom where it does 
not yet exist, to the upholding and development of it where it is 
already possessed. The sympathy and help of the Hungarian peo- 
ple would be with the nationalities in seeking such a career. In a 
subsequent letter, this statesman — one of the bitterest enemies of 
Austria — declared that the life-interests of Hungary lay with that 
Empire, and advised his countrymen to defend it to the last drop of 
their blood. The integrity of Turkey, he averred, must be main- 
tained, at all events, against Russia, the greatest enemy of Europe. 
He praised his countrj^men for having rejected with indignation the 
immoral and improvident thought of consenting to a division of 
Turkey with Russia, and predicted that, ^' if St. Petersburg and 
Vienna should divide the fragments of Turkey between them, in 
less than twenty-five years Russia and Germany and Italy would 
combine to divide Austria and Hungary among themselves." M. 
Kossuth repeated these views, at greater length, but without pre- 
senting any new points of importance, in an article which he pub- 
lished in the Contemporary Review for December, 1877. 

The visit of Signor Crispi, the President of the Italian Chamber 
of Deputies (afterward made Minister of the Interior), to Yienna 
and Pesth, in October, 1877, was regarded with jealousy by the 
press of both States. It was suspected that he came to sound the 
Imperial Government as to whether it would be willing to permit 
Italy to receive a slice of Turkish territory on the Adnatic, and 
those journals let it be immediately understood that no such acquisi- 
tion of territory would be tolerated. They saw in it the first step 
toward the loss of Dalmatia and the Italian city of Fiume, now 
belonging to Hungary. The suggestion for a confederation of the 
Slavic States, and the extension of Greece to the Balkans, which 
Crispi threw out at a banquet of Deputies at Pesth, was criticised 
with much disfavor. Such a confederation, it was agreed, was, 
throughout, against the interests of Hungary, and responded only to 
the wishes of Russia. 

These unfavorable expressions were justified in part by the fact 
that Mazzini, the distinguished Italian Republican, had expressed 
the opinion, in his essays on the Eastern Question, written between 
1857 and 1871, that the ftiaintenance of the Austro-Hungarian and 
Ottoman Empires, in their present state, was an impossibility, and 
that their place would be taken by four Slavic States or Confedera- 



638 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



tions, and that, when Austria fell, the Southern Tyrol and Istria 
would naturally become a part of Italy. 

The course of the G-overnment was apparently controlled by a de- 
termination to adhere to the Tri-Imperial Alliance as long as possi- 
ble — at least, until an Austrian or Hungarian interest was put in 
imminent danger. A party at the Court of Yienna was often 
spoken of, which was understood to be under German influences, 
and to be favorable to a co-operation with Russia in its attack upon 
the Porte ; and it was accredited with having been able to persuade 
the Government to such an extent that it inclined to seek a policy 
between the one indicated and that which was advocated by the 
Magyar leaders. Although the personal feeHngs of the Emperor 
were in actual sympathy with those of the Germans, and although 
the Government reposed great confidence in the advice of the Ger- 
man Emperor and his Chancellor during all the trying scenes of the 
war, its course does not appear to have been changed under any of 
the conflicting influences which were brought to bear against it, but 
to have been pursued in adherence to the neutraHty which was an- 
nounced at the beginning of the war. 

An oflficial expression of regard for other interests than those of 
the Empire, was made at the opening of the Chambers on the 10th 
of December, when Count Andrassy declared that he was opposed 
to the idea that, in compliance with external prejudices, the Chris- 
tian populations of Turkey should be under Turkish rule. This 
was regarded by some partisans as a concession to the German 
party at the Court. It was, more probably, a concession to the 
plainest principles of humanity, which even an Austrian Chancellor, 
with the fate of the precarious fabric of an unhomogeneous State in 
his hands, could not always evade. 

The Government made a cautious expression of opinion respecting 
the bearing of the peace preliminaries proposed by Russia and ac- 
cepted by Turkey, when on the 19th of February, 1878, the Austrian 
Minister-President in the Reichstag, and the Hungarian Minister- 
President in the Diet, stated, in answer to questions, that among the 
stipulations were some which could not be brought into harmony 
with the interests of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. This remark 
did not apply to those stipulations meant .to improve the condition 
of the Christian populations of Turkey, which Austria-Hungary 
always had at heart as much as any other power, but to those 



THE PERIL OF AUSTRIA. 



whicli might produce changes in the relative position of the Euro- 
pean powers in the East. The Government, however, hoped that it 
would be possible to smooth over these difficulties, and that a solu- 
tion would be effected which would lead to a lasting peace, as satis- 
fying all interested. But, in all circumstances, the Government 
would regard it as its main task to protect the interests of the mon- 
archy in every respect and in every direction. The efforts of the 
Russian diplomats in their intercourse with Austria were for some 
time after this directed to the devising of measures to concihate the 
Austrian interests and remove their objections to the substantial 
consummation of the Eussian scheme. 



CHAPTER YI. 

ENGLAND AND E TJ S 8 I A . 

Fear of Russia entertained l^y the Powers — Early advances of Russia toward Constanti- 
nople — Frederick the Great on the Threatening Power of Russia— "Will of Peter the 
Great — British Interests in the East — Russia and England Rivals in Asia — Russian 
Conquest Dangerous to the British Tenure of India — Kashgar and Russia — Afghan- 
istan, its Importance to British Interests — Russian Influence in Persia — The Blunder- 
ing Diplomacy of the English Government Condemned — Position of the English 
Parties on the Question — Counter-arguments of the anti-Russians and the anti- 
Turks — Views of the British Cabinet and Conservative Statesmen — The Positions 
assumed by the Liberal Statesmen — Moderated tone of the English Journals — Why 
England and Russia should not Quarrel — They are the Destined Rulers of Asia — What 
Benefits they hav6 Conferred upon it— What they may yet Accomplish for its Civiliza- 
tion and Prosperity. 

The increase of territory and population whicli accrues to Russia 
by the peace of San Stefano is not as great as the increase in pres- 
tige and in indirect influence. The actual increase in territory and 
population is in fact small, comprising only that part of the Dobrudja 
which it is proposed to exchange for Rumanian Bessarabia and a 
small territory in Armenia ; but the increase in prestige and influ- 
ence is very great. It amounts to the conquest of the chief Mussul- 
^man power, the power to which most of the other Mohammedan 
nations of the world looked up as then- head, and to the estabhshment 
of a new State touching both the Mediterranean and Black Seas, over 
which no pains will be spared to make Russian influence supreme. 
It establishes a permanent terror among the Mohammedan nations 
of Asia, which already had reason enough to fear Russia, and plants 
a thorn in the flesh of all the Mediterranean powers. Most of the 
European Governments have seemed to feel these facts keenly ; and 
even the German Government, which has been regarded as the sup- 
porter of Russia to a certain extent, has repeatedly shown that it 
was not indifferent to the sudden exaltation its neighbor had re- 
ceived, and has more than once intimated that there might be a 
limit, beyond which it would not allow it to go without a protest. 
C640) 



ENGLAND AND RUSSIA, 



641 



The jealousy and fear which the rival powers entertain of Eussia 
are not of recent growth. They have been felt and expressed by 
the rulers of different nations ever since the Muscovite State became 
important enough to attract the attention of its neighbors. They 
have increased as its dominions have been extended on every side, 
have been fed by every new addition to the territory of the Czars, 
and have been intensified in the States which have successively been 
victims of Russia whenever some of their fair provinces have been 
torn from them. The tendencies of Russia toward Constantinople 
and the East have been noticed since the very foundatian of the re- 
public of Novgorod. A Hungarian writer, Mr. Benjamin Yon 
Kallay, in a pamphlet recently published in Pesth, recalls the facts, 
hitherto hardly noticed, that an expedition of the comrades of Ruiik 
descended the Dnieper to the Black Sea in the year 866, and devas- 
tated the country around Constantinople ; that a second expedition 
under Oleg, attacked Constantinople from the land and the sea in 
905, the land force having marched through Bessarabia, Rumania, 
and Bulgaria, and over the Balkans, and that three other attempts 
were made against the Eastern capital during the tenth and eleventh 
centuries, and while it was still in the hands of the Christian Em- 
perors. The series of expeditions was afterward interrupted by the 
dominance of the Tartars in the present territory of Russia, but the 
efforts against Constantinople were resumed as soon as the Tartars 
had been overcome, and Russia had gained liberty to follow its 
destiny. 

The German Ambassador in Washington, Kurd Yon Schlozer, 
has shown in an article published in the i^ew York BelletristisGhes 
Journal of March 29th, that Erederick the Great of Prussia ex- 
pressed his apprehension of the danger which would accrue from 
the growth and ambition of Russia without reserve. In 1769, after 
he had formed an alliance with the Empress Catharine, he wrote, 
" Prussia has reason to fear that its ally, become too powerful, may 
seek some time to impose laws upon it, as it has done to Poland ; " 
and he wrote to Prince Ilenry at about the same time : It (Rus- 
sia) is a terrible power, which in the course of half a century will 
make all Europe tremble. Offspring of the Hunns and Gepidae 
which destroyed the Eastern Empire, they will be able in a little, 
while to attack the West, and cause the Austrians to grieve and 
repent that in their mistaken policy thoy have ealled this barbarous 
nation into Germany and taught it the art of war. . . . At present, 



642 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



I see no remedy for them, except in forming in the future a league 
of the great sovereigns to oppose the dangerous torrent." - 

The Emperor Napoleon I. also had a keen appreciation of the 
dangers of Eussian aggressions, and made the destruction of Eus 
sian power a prominent object in his campaigns. To him was at- 
tributed the prediction, which has often been quoted, that in fifty 
years Europe would be either Eepublican or Cossack. The docu- 
ment called the will of Peter the Great, although it has been proved 
a forgery, was for some time regarded as genuine, and had a per- 
ceptible effect in stimulating the fear inspired by Eussia. It was 
supposed to represent the plans of the great Czar for the future ex- 
tension of the power and influence of the Empire and the eventual 
conquest of Europe, and to have been left by him as a guide for his 
successors to follow. The affectation of carelessness which was 
given to its style, so as to make it appear more like a memorandum 
than an elaborate document, and the mention of events which oc- 
curred after the death of Peter so that they should seem to be de- 
velopments of the policy it outlined, contributed to give it "currency. 
The document is so frequently referred to in the literature relating 
to the Eastern Question that we give in an appendix a full account 
of its history. 

The advances of Eussia toward the East have appeared more 
prominent, and have attracted a greater degree of attention within 
the last half century than the dangers to the West. In the East, 
Eussia is brought into direct conflict especially with two of the 
powers, Austria and England. We have shown in a previous 
chapter the nature and extent of the bearing which Eussian move- 
ments in Turkey have upon the condition of the Austrian Empire. 
Great Britain, also, as a leading commercial nation is greatly con- 
cerned in all that takes place in the Eastern Mediterranean, 
especially in all that relates to the trade of the coasts and the free- 
dom of navigation; as a Christian State holding large Mohammedan 
populations under its rule, it is vitally interested in all that affects 
the relations of the Christian and Mohammedan nations ; and as the 
owner of large territories in Asia, toward which the Eussian con- 
quests are steadily advancing, it watches all the movements of 
Eussia and all indications of its policy for the future with a most 
intense anxiety, which is aggravated by the fact, that these two 
powers, the greatest on the earth, and the only powers which can ap- 
proach each other in extent and resources, are stretching their 



ENGLAND AND RUSSIA. 



643 



efforts to reach the same points, and are rivals for doininion and 
prestige in a sense and to a degree which surpass all other rivalry 
among existing nations. Thus, the action of Russia, whether it re- 
late to Central and Eastern Asia or to Turkey, is scrutinized in 
England with suspicion, as involving a menace in either case ; and 
the combination and complication of interests are such, that 
anxiety concerning one aggravates that concerning the other. 
Since Russia is always making some movement regarding Turkey 
or the East, the relations of the two countries are always in a 
critical condition. The discussion of British Interests" has been 
among the more prominent features of the war and the negotiations 
which have taken place concerning it ; the existence of those 
interests forms one of the most formidable and permanent obstacles 
to the satisfactory settlement of the Eastern Question ; and the 
jealousies and conflicting motives of England and Russia occupied 
the largest share of the world's attention immediately after the con- 
clusion of the peace of San Stefano. For these reasons, an expla- 
nation of the character of the British interests and of the relations 
into whicli they have been brought with the transactions and issues 
of the war is necessary to an adequate understanding of the situa- 
tion and the course which events are taking. 

Russia and England are opposed to each other on all questions re- 
lating to the East, because they are rivals for trade and dominion in 
the East. The trade relations of both powers in Asia have been 
built up with great expense and are nourished with great care. 
Dominion is sought by both powers, not, as they profess, on its 
own account, for both are already embarrassed by the extent of their 
territories and the lack of homogeneousness of their peoples, but 
as an incident of trade and a necessary means of protecting com^ 
mercial relations that are already established. The political and 
commercial relations of either nation are so connected with every 
part of the land of Asia, that hardly a question can arise with refr 
erence to any part of the continent that will not in some way affect 
the interests of one or the other of them, and often bring them into 
conflict. As the acquisitions of both powers have been extended 
within the present century, the boundaries of their territories have 
steadily approached each other, until now a comparatively narrow 
neutral zone stands between them, and the time is looked forward 
to as possibly not far distant when the pioneer armies of the two 
States shall meet to dispute about the boundary line. In anticipa- 
35 



644 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



tion of this period, a brisk diplomatic war has been carried on for 
several years between the envoys of the two powers in the States 
intervening between Eussian Asia and British India, with the object 
of gaining the precedence of influence and advantageous position. 

It is chiefly by reason of these circumstances that the Eastern 
Question has acquired so much greater importance for England and 
Russia at this time than it had even during the Crimean war. For 
it is since the Crimean war that the Russian Empire has been 
stretched so far toward the East that its continued advance can be 
regarded as involving a definite threat to the integrity of the British 
Empire ; and what was then only a vague question of general in- 
fluence and of events which might take place in a distant future, 
has become for England an intensely practical problem of the safety 
of its Indian Empire. The question is all the more momentous for 
England because its tenure of India is in reality very frail. Its two 
hundred thousand or more of colonists in India are only as a drop 
in the bucket, by the side of the two hundred and forty-five millions 
of the native and Mohammedan population ; and all the armies it 
could pour into the country would be insufficient to repress an insur- 
rection of the inhabitants, supported by such able and skilled lead- 
ers as they possess of both races. The British had a foretaste of the 
difficulties they would encounter in case of such an insurrection in 
the mutiny of 1857, and have since then constantly given their best 
attention to the provision of measures that would render it impossi- 
ble for an insurrection to gain headway. The best of such measures 
would be futile if a powerful neighbor were on the frontier, ready, 
for the sake of promoting its own interests, to stir up discontent and 
give assistance to a revolt. Russia, it is feared, might become such 
a neighbor. 

The Chinese Empire has been sorely disturbed during the last 
twenty years by insurrections among the Mohammedan populations 
of its western provinces, who are of a kindred race with the Turks, 
and the Russians have not scrupled to take advantage of these move- 
ments to further their own purposes. The Sungarians of Northern 
Mongolia having risen and expelled the Chinese from the land of 
Hi and Kuldsha, the Russians came in and occupied the territory, 
signifying their intention to hold it until the Chinese should be in a 
condition again to extend their authority over it. With this occu- 
pation they came into the immediate neighborhood of the new Mo- 
hammedan State of Kashgar, which the adventurous chieftain Yakub 



ENGLAND AND RUSSIA. 



645 



Beg had erected since 186^ within the boundaries of another Chi- 
nese province. Thej were thus brought into a suggestive proximity 
to the ]S"orth-western Indian States, with which the British in India 
had been accustomed to cultivate the closest relations next to incor- 
porating them into their own dominions. Yakub Beg was at first 
suspicious of the Russians, who also did not show themselves well 
inclined toward him. He sought a British alliance, and gave the 
British ample opportunity to cement a friendship with hun, and 
gain an aUy who would have been valuable to prevent the Bussians 
approaching nearer to them in one direction. The British were 
slow in responding to the overtures of the Kashgarian prince, and 
when, at last, they sent Sir Douglas Forsyth to Kashgar in 1870, 
they qualified his embassy with such restrictions that it had but little 
practical result. The Russians, in the meantime, had begun to feel 
their way into the good graces of Yakub Beg, and at length con- 
cluded treaties with him which gave them an advantageous position 
for influence, and such commercial facilities as conferred upon them 
in efifect the monopoly of the trade of the country. The result of 
these maneuvers was irritating to the English, and while they did 
not fail to award the full meed of blame to their own agents for the 
failure of their blundering diplomacy, their jealousy and suspicion 
of Russia were increased. The Chinese Government dispatched a 
formidable army to restore its authority over the revolted province ; 
the recent death of Yakub Beg — who was a Turkoman of rare genius 
— deprived the State of its cliief defense, and exposed it to a speedy 
occupation by the Chinese ; but it is not yet safe to say that Russia 
will not make its power felt in the province. 

Within the last fifteen years, Russia has acquired a dominion in 
Central Asia as large as the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the Em- 
pire of Germany, and the kingdom of Belgium combined, and has 
found lines of trade which extend away into the western provinces 
of the Chinese Empire, and almost to the borders of British India 
itself. Its manufacturers and merchants control the markets throuo:h 
most of this vast region. Its goods come into competition with 
those of English make at several points, and have crowded them out 
from some. It is fixing the settlement of its new territories, estab- 
lishing civilization, replacing the nomadic and predatory occupations 
of its former inhabitants with steady industries and enlightened en- 
terprises, and is preparing the deserts to become the seats of pros- 
perous States ; but in doing all this it is strengthening itself effectu- 



646 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



ally at points where it might come in the way of its rival. During 
the whole course of its conquests in Central Asia, the Eussian Grov- 
eiTiment has repeatedly given assurances that it meant no aggression ; 
that it was obliged to take up arms to protect its merchants from the 
depredations of the Turkomans ; but hardly a year has passed with- 
out its adding new soil to its domains, or posting its troops at some 
position in advance. Their first movements against the predatory 
tribes, on the Sea of Aral and the Syr Darya River, being avowedly 
for the repression of actual robbery and lawless violence, excited 
little alarm, for they clearly had a case in their favor. The Eussians 
were even permitted to chastise the Khans of Khokand and Bokhara 
without exciting remark, for these barbarous despots had been guilty 
of acts which justly called for vengeance. As they began to exercise 
an influence in the internal affairs of these States, and to take steps 
which looked like reducing them to a condition of vassalage, inquiry 
was awakened as to their ultimate designs. Prince Gortchakoff, in 
1864, issued a dispatch to the powers, which was designed to quiet 
apprehensions, showing that the extension of the Eussian territory 
had been made under the pressure of imperious necessity, and giving 
assurances that they would not be continued. I^evertheless, circum- 
stances pressed to new annexations. The Khan of Khiva was re- 
duced in 1873, only a small strip of territory being left in his posses- 
sion, and the Khan of Khokand was conquered, and his whole territory 
made a Eussian province in 1876. The Eussian armies exacted the 
submission of the tribes as far as the borders of Kashgaria, and de- 
tachments of their troops made their way into districts not far dis- 
tant from the frontiers of Persia and Afghanistan. 

The disposition of Afghanistan has a very important bearing upon 
the security of British India. The territory of that State is strategi- 
cally of great value both to the British and to their rivals, for 
through it lead the passes by which an army can be conducted from 
Central Asia to India. The country is practically impregnable to a 
hostile force, as the British learned to their cost many years ago, so 
that whoever possesses it, or can gain the friendship of its rulers and 
people, may have things in his own way, and, in effect, command 
the gates of India. The English have realized this fact for a long 
time, and have endeavored to acquire such a footing in the country 
as would make them safe. First they tried war, but when their 
armies had been nearly annihilated in the Khyber Pass, after having 
achieved some successes over the Afghans, they became convinced 



ENGLAND AND RUSSIA, 



647 



that a forcible conquest was impossible. They then adopted a peace- 
ful policy, concluded a treaty with the Amir, Dost Mohammed, and 
kept him in good humor by the payment of subsidies as long as he 
lived. Upon his death, in 1863, a civil war for the succession broke 
out among his three sons, in which the English did not take sides, 
waiting to see which would prevail. The war ended in 1868 in 
victory for Shore Ali, the present Amir of Cabool, and the English 
recognized him, and granted liim a large annual pension. Subse- 
quently, the Amir quarreled with his son, Yakub Khan, and counted 
on the support of the English. He did not receive it. A breach 
was made between him and the English, of which the Russians took 
advantage. Their envoy was publicly received at Cabool in 1876, 
and the British envoy was treated with coolness. During 1877, the 
subject of declaring a holy war against England was seriously con- 
sidered in Afghanistan. 

While these events were taking place in Central Asia and 
Afghanistan, negotiations were conducted for a short time between 
Great Britain and Russia for the permanent adjustment of their 
frontier interests and the prevention of future conflicts, by fixing 
limits beyond which either power should not go. The English pro- 
posed to make a neutral zone of Afghanistan, whose integrity and 
independence both powers should respect. The proposition was 
favorably received at St. Petersburg, but when it came to perfect 
the arrangement, a difficulty was met in determining what should 
be regarded as the exact limits of the territory of Afghanistan. The 
English could give no guarantees that the Afghans would respect 
the Russian domain, and the Russians, in the absence of such 
guarantees, were not inclined to commit themselves to regard 
Afghanistan as inviolable. The negotiations have, therefore, been 
so far without result, but the hope that some such settlement may 
be effected, has not been given up, and it is recognized as desirable 
by both parties. 

The English administration having failed to make a trustworthy 
ally of the Amir of Cabool, turned its attention to his neighbor on 
the south, the Khan of Kelat, in Beloochistan. Friendly relations 
had existed with this chieftain for about twenty years, when they 
were broken off during the Yice-Royalty of Lord Lytton, in India. 
After an interruption of about three years, an effort was begun in 
1876 to restore a good understanding, which has resulted in the con- 
clusion of a treaty between the Indian Government and Kelat, 



648 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



which, in return for the pledge of support and the payment of an 
annual subsidy, accords to the English a nnmber of valuable privi- 
leges, including the right to construct internal improvements in the 
country, to build forts, and to occupy prominent points with troops. 
Under this arrangement, a detachment of troops has been placed at 
Quettah, close upon the Afghan frontier, and the place has been put 
in communication with the world by a telegraph line through the 
Bolan Pass. 

At present the Russians are understood to have their eyes fixed 
upon Merv, an important trading post in South-eastern Turkistan, 
about equally distant from the Afghan and Persian boundary-lines, 
and an easy march from Herat, in Afghanistan. 

In all their operations in these quarters, the Russians count on the 
friendliness of Persia, at whose court they have gained a predominant 
influence at the expense of England, and with which their Govern- 
ment has commercial, postal, and political alliances. Russia is, in 
fact, in a position to compel Persia to act substantially as it desires, 
having already established itself as a formidable neighbor along or 
near its northern frontiers, both east and west of the Caspian Sea, 
and being able to threaten an immediate occupation of Tabriz, its 
northern capital, at any time. Already, Russia has exercised its in- 
fluence in an important transaction to the discomfiture of English in- 
terests, in having induced the Shah to annul the concessions which 
he had made to Baron Renter, of franchises for building railways in 
his dominions, and grant the privilege to another company. Under 
the franchise thus snatched from England, it is proposed to build a 
road which shall be extended eventually through Kurdistan to Bag- 
dad, whereby Russia wdll gain access, if the plan is ever carried out, 
from a direction whence it was least expected, to the weakest part of 
the Turkish Empire, and will cut Asia in two with a Russian belt 
completely separating the eastern from the western part of the con- 
tinent. 

The bearing of the Russian advances on British interests in the 
East, is clearly set forth in Mr. Rawlinson's " The British in Asia," 
published in 1875, which carefully reviews the question in all its 
points. Speaking of the movements of the Russians which seemed 
to indicate a purpose to advance toward Merv, he says that they evi- 
dently mean mischief. " Political objects of high import could alone 
justify the movement. These objects necessarily point to Herat, 
which would lie at the mercy of a European power holding Merv, 



ENGLAND AND RUSSIA. 



649 



and whence India would be seriously threatened." Herat, adds Mr. 
Rawlinson, " possesses natural advantages of quite an exceptional 
proportion. It is the frontier town between Persia and India. It is 
connected by high-roads with the capitals of all the surrounding coun- 
tries, .... lying in an admirable climate, and is situated in the 
midst of one of the most fertile and populous valleys of Asia. Above 
all, the city itself is surrounded by earthworks of the most colossal 
character, dating from prehistoric times, which might be improved 
and rendered very strong. Russia in possession of Herat would hold 
a grip on India, would command the military resources of Persia 
and Afghanistan, and would oblige the English to increase their 
frontier army by at least twenty thousand fresh men." In another 
place the same author speaks of Herat as " the pivot of the whole 
Eastern Question," the key to India. The importance which the 
British have attached in the past to the freedom of this fortress-town 
is shown by the fact that their Government sent an expedition to the 
Persian Gulf in 1838, in order, by effecting a diversion, to compel 
the Persians to raise the siege of Herat, and later, when the Persian 
troops occupied the place in 1856, went to war with the Shah to com- 
pel their withdrawal. 

English writers acknowledge that Russia has gained advantages 
over their statesmen in negotiations, both with the Asiatics and with 
the British Government itself, and blame the blundering and halting 
diplomacy which has permitted such a result. Captain Burnaby, of 
the British Horse-Guards, represents, in his entertaining book, " A 
Ride to Khiva," that he found the subject talked about by the Tartars 
and Turkomans of Khiva, and relates a conversation which he had 
with the Khan of Khiva, in which that chief spoke of the Russian 
advances in the East, and seemed to be a little surprised that the En- 
glish regarded them with so much unconcern. " Well," said his High- 
ness, " the Russians will now advance to Kashgar, then to Bokhara 
and Balkh, and so on to Merv and Herat ; you will have to fight 
some day, whether your Government likes it or not." 

A writer in the Pall Mall Gazette^ speaking of the ahenation of 
the Amir Shere Ali of Afghanistan from the English and his in-- 
clination toward the Russians, accounted for them by stating that- 
it was well-known that that prince had plainly said that the English' 
would never, under any circumstances, stretch out a hand to help 
him in time of difficulty ; that, in spite of the guns and money which: 
they had given, he had never been able to conclude any definite alli-^ 



650 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



ance with them on which he could rely. They had abandoned Khiva 
and Bokhara, though they had talked big about them," and they 
would leave Yakub Beg of Kashgar to his fate to be crushed out be- 
tween the Russians and the Chinese, although they had concluded 
treaties with him, and had dispatched to him two missions. The 
Amir, in short, in order to save himself from absorption by that 
which he conceived to be the stronger of the two real powers in 
Asia, intended to make terms with Russia as against England. 

i\.n American writer, Mr. Eugene Schuyler, who has given careful 
attention to the subject, and whose book on " Turkistan " presents 
one of the fairest and most complete histories of the Russian ad- 
vances in Central Asia, characterizes the attitude of England toward 
Russia, with regard to the points at issue, as " hardly a dignified 
one." There are constant questions, protests, demands for expla- 
nations, and even threats — at least in the newspapers and in Par- 
liament — but nothing ever is done." It would seem wiser and 
more dignified," he adds, " instead of subjecting the Russian Foreign 
Ofiice to constant petty annoyances, to allow the Russians plainly to 
understand what limits they could not pass in their onward move- 
ment. A state of mutual suspicion bodes no good to the relations 
of any Governments." * 

The Eastern relations of England and Russia had a great influence 
upon the policy of the British Government and the attitude of 
English parties during the war. Questions beai-ing upon them 
formed the topic of most of the discussions with reference to the 
position which the country should maintain toward the belligerents. 
When the Liberals sought to rivet public attention upon the dis- 
tressed condition of the Christian populations of Turkey, or de- 
manded an imperative expression of opinion by the people and the 
Government against the atrocities committed by the Turkish irregu- 
lar troops upon Christian non-combatants, the Conservatives would 
make no other answer than that it would never do to encourage 
Russia in a proceeding wliich might dismember Turkey, place Con- 
stantinople in the hands of rivals, or interfere with the communi- 
cations of the English with their Asiatic possessions. The division 
of opinion with reference to the question ran very close upon the 
division lines of the parties. The Conservatives, who were repre- 
sented by the majority of the Ministry and controlled the Govern- 



* Schuyler's "Turkistan," ii., 269. 



ENGLAND AND RUSSIA. 



651 



merit, "held it to be the supreme duty to checkmate Kussia. The 
GovenimeDt maintained an attitude of watchful observaticm, aiming 
to be always ready to interfere whenever any practical British in- 
terest seemed to be put in danger. The Liberals — of wbom Mr. 
Gladstone and Lord Hai-tington were the most prominent — were 
active, without intermission, to prevent any encouragement being held 
out to Turkey to continue to refuse what they held to be the just 
demands of Russia and the Christian populations for guarantees for 
the permanent improvement of the condition of the latter. 

In presenting tbeir views on the merits of tbe case, the organs of 
the Conservatives represented that the condition of the Christian 
populations was only a pretext under which Russia concealed the 
purpose to carry on a war of aggrandizement. They pointed to the 
belief Avhich prevailed, to a considerable extent, in other countries 
than England, and was supported by some plausible evidence, that 
much of the prevailing discontent was fictitious, and that the mani- 
festations of it, under cover of w^hich the war was made, were, in the 
first place, instigated by Russian intrigiie, and afterward kept up 
by the influence of Russian agents in Bulgaria and Bosnia, and even 
in Servia and Montenegro. Some went further, and expressed the 
opinion that the warlike movements had been encouraged, not only 
by powers in sympathy wdth Russia, who expected to derive ulterior 
advantages from it, but also by other and jealous powers, who an- 
ticipated a precipitation of general European questions, in the settle- 
ment of which they would make some gain. Therefore, they urged, 
Eno'land must aim to avoid unknown dano^ers in store. 

When in the early summer campaigns it appeared certain that 
Russia would make a speedy conquest of Armenia, the anti-Russian 
party endeavored to excite alarm respecting the practical advantages 
Russia would derive from its victory. It would gain, they said, a 
rich country, with valuable harbors in the Black Sea, and a friendly 
Christian population, so situated as to intercept all commercial in- 
tercourse between Turkey and Persia and Central Asia ; would 
acquire an immense prestige, inasmuch as the capture and reten- 
tion of the great Turkish strongholds would "be the occasion of 
amazement, consternation, and fear, from the head-waters of the 
Euphrates to the Red Sea, from the Mediterranean to the confines 
of China ; " would cut off a portion of English trade with Asia, bind 
Persia in tighter bonds, and confirm its adverse disposition toward 
the English and the Turks, render the construction of the Euphrates 



652 



THE WAR IX THE EAST. 



Yalley Kailway and the opening of a new and friendly ronte to 
India by way of the Persian Gulf problematical, and by causing 
the influence of the English to wither, would insensibly, but sui'ely 
prejudicially, affect all their relations with the East. Then, having 
consolidated its Armenian conquests, improved and developed the 
country, it would, when a new generation of soldiers had grown up, 
achieve the comparatively easy conquest of Asia Minor, and while 
it need not disturb the Turks at Constantinople, would permanently 
cut them off from Syria and Arabia, from Persia and the Tigris 
YaUey. 

This view of the future was alarming enough, and had the merit 
of novelty at the time, for attention had till now been principally 
directed to the prospects and dangers of Pussian conquests in 
Europe, and the capture of Constantinople, and had made com- 
paratively little account of what was going on in Asia. The view 
was supported by the appearance of a translation of a pamphlet by 
the Austrian Baron Kuhn Yon Kuhnenfeld, written in 1858, and 
first published m 1869, which gave a similar forecast of the prob- 
able progress of Pussia. This author ascribed the Pussian move- 
ments to the desire of securing a seaboard which would give to 
the Empire greater facilities than could be afforded by a few Black 
Sea ports, or even by the possession of the whole of an inland con- 
fined sea, like the Black Sea ; in effect, to secure a Mediterranean 
or an Ocean seaboard, or both. He predicted that it would operate 
through Asia, where it would come into conflict vdth Tm^key, with 
Persia, and in the end, directly or indirectly with England. Europe 
would be far off, not directly concerned, and would not be likely to 
interfere. Having moved against Khiva and Bokhara, just as Pus- 
sia has done, it would annex separate districts of Armenia, seize 
Persian provinces, l)ring its full weight to bear upon the Euphrates 
and Tigris districts and the whole of Persia ; once in possession of 
Armenia, Syria and Asia Minor would of necessity fall to it, and 
thus it would advance on one side to the whole eastern coast of the 
Mediterranean, and on the other to the Persian Gulf. 

A similar course "of reasoning was presented by Mr. Layard, 
British Minister at Constantinople, in a dispatch to the British 
Eoreign Office, dated May 30, 1877. He urged that whatever 
the designs of Pussia might be as to the European provinces, their 
execution would be modifled or prevented by the opposing in- 
terests of Europe, but that no such restraint would be offered against 



ENGLAND AND RUSSIA. 



them in Asia. Then, after sketching the probable course of Russian 
conquest througli Armenia and Asia Minor, and the Euphrates 
Yalley, he referred to a suspicion which existed that Eussia had 
already made secrst offers to Persia to assist her in acquiring the 
province of Bagdad in exchange for Ghilan and Mazanderan, be- 
lieving that it rested on grounds of intrinsic probability, inasmuch 
as the desire of Persia to possess the province of Bagdad and the 
shrines of the prophets and martyrs was of very ancient date, and 
was shared by the whole Persian people, wliile the possession of the 
entire coast of the Caspian Sea, and the direct road through a lich 
and well-inhabited country to Herat and Afghanistan, and ulti- 
mately to India, was a matter of vast political importance to Russia. 
^' The possession, by Persia, of the province of Bagdad," the dis- 
patch continued, " would be, as far as England is concerned, its 
possession by Eussia. It must not be forgotten that the possession 
of Armenia by Eussia as regards any designs that she may have 
upon India, supposing her to entertain them, would be very differ- 
ent from that of any part of Turkistan or Central Asia. In Ar- 
menia and the north of Persia she would have a hardy and abundant 
population, affording her excellent materials for a large army, ready 
at any time to advance upon our Indian frontier, and resting upon 
a convenient and sure base of operations, in direct communication, 
by the Caspian Sea and by Batum, with the heart of the Eussian 
Empire. The moral effect of the conquest of Armenia and the an- 
nexation of Ghilan and Mazanderan by Eussia upon our Moham- 
medan snbjects, and upon the populations of Central Asia, can not 
be overlooked by a statesman who attaches any value to the reten- 
tion of India as part of the British Empire." 

When the collapse of the first Bulgarian and Armenian cam- 
paigns revealed the weakness and inefficiency of the Eussian mili- 
tary organization, the anti-Turkish party were able to reply to these 
dismal forebodings that the idea that had been entertained of Eus- 
sian power was a delusion. If, after all its bluster of preparation, 
and with all the aids it had invoked to its cause, it had not been 
able to make any headway against an effete and disorganized nation 
like the Turks, but had been ignominiously thrown back at every 
point, then it could have no military strength, and could be no 
match for a Avell-organized and drilled and effectively-administered 
nation like England. While the probability, even the certainty, 
that the Eussians would eventually come victors out of the war, was 



654 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



admitted, it was held that the victory would not indicate that Eus- 
sia was any stronger than it now appeared to be, but only that it 
had greater powers of endurance than Turkey, and would be only 
the victory of an intrinsically weak nation over a still weaker one. 

In reply to this, it was urged that military success was not all 
that was to be feared from Russia, but that it had a faculty of con- 
quering by diplomacy. Once give it a position of advantage, it 
would extend its power by negotiation, if not by arms, and as 
effectively as even with the best successes of arms. The Russian 
diplomatic transactions during the insurrections in the European 
provinces, and before the outbreak of the war, had been extraor- 
dinary successes, and had almost resulted in the dismemberment of 
the Turkish Empire, without its being necessary to strike a blow 
directly. Similar results had attended their negotiations elsewhere, 
and the inference was justified, that " whenever the conclusion of 
the war with Tui'key leaves them opportunity and leisure, the Rus- 
sians will find no field so promising as the countries between their 
own provinces and India."^ 

The Liberal party considered the subject from a very different 
point of view from that of the Conservatives. They regarded 
chiefly the duty of England, as a Christian State and the leader of 
civilization, to seek an amelioration of the wrongs which the Chris- 
tian populations of Turkey were suffering from their enforced deg- 
radation, from misgovernment, from the failure of the Turkish 
promises to amend their condition, and from such recent horrible 
incidents as the atrocities in Bulgaria. They believed that the 
Turkish Government owed its continued existence in Europe 
largely to British power and influence, and that it leaned upon 
England as a prop to support it in refusing even the reasonable de- 
mands of the powers for guarantees of reforms. They thought that 
their country was disgraced by tolerating the continuance of abuses 
for so long a time, and that it would be infamous to tolerate them 
longer ; and they advocated, not participation in the war, but that 
the Government, informing Turkey that it should not have British 
support in any contingency, should admonish it effectually to grant 
the reforms demanded, with guarantees, and remove all pretext for 
war and Russian encroachment. They believed that if such a de- 
mand had been made in the beginning, the Turkish Government, 



* Pall Man Budget, September 18, 1877. 



ENGLAXD AXD RUSSIA. 



655 



seeing that its case was liopeless, avouIcI have granted it ; whereas, 
the British GoA'eniment, by its drifting poUcy, had allowed the 
Turks to dehicle themselves with vague hopes that England would 
sometime interfere for them, and had thus encouraged them to be 
obstinate, and was, therefore, indirectly responsible for the war. 
The question of trade routes and Eastern Asian relations was not 
insignificant, bnt should, in this case, be subordinated to that of 
duty, which was paramount. They even represented that a correct 
settlement of the latter question would remove many of the diffi- 
culties in the way of the satisfactory adjustment of the other one. 

If England, they urged, had firmly, consistently, and honestly sup- 
ported Eussia in its reasonable demands, it would have had influence 
to prevent unreasonable ones being made. It would have had a 
measure of control on all the subsequent proceedings so long as it 
adhered steadfastly and sincerely to the right. If, when Turkey 
proved contumacious, if such a thing could be supposed, in view of 
the moral force which a firm attitude would have borne, England 
had gone forward with Kussia to war, or had held entii'ely aloof 
from Turkey, it would have been able to restrain the war, to tell 
Hussia when its conquests should stop, and to have a potential voice 
in fixing the adjustments to be made upon the conclusion of peace. 
In that case it would have been in a position to secm-e, without se- 
rious embarrassment or controversy, the advantages it desired, its 
trade routes and relations, and, most hkely, a permanent adjust- 
ment of all rivalries and conflicting relations in the East. All of 
these advantages had been thrown away by imbecility and halting 
diplomacy, just as the alliances of the Eastern Asiatic Princes had 
been lost by similar means. The jealousy of Eussia had been 
aroused, Turkey was dissatisfied, and the views of England would 
count for nothing when the time for settlement came. 

The Liberals made less of the danger to trade, and Eastern influ- 
ence involved in a Eussian occupation of Armenia and Asia ATinor, 
than did the men of the opposite party. Since the Suez Canal had 
passed into English hands, the overland routes had lost much of 
their impoi'tance. Let them guard Egypt and the integrity of this 
route, without reference to Turkey, and British commerce might 
risk the pos;'ession of the Black Sea and the eastern coasts by Eus- 
sia. On the last point they were not widely separated from the Con- 
servatives, who, foreseeing that the Eussian occupation of Armenia 
was probably only a question of time, advised that especial atten- 



656 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



tioii should be immediately given toward secm-ing the interests at 
Suez. 

The view entertained bj the British Cabinet of the manner in 
which English interests might be affected by the policy of the Rus- 
sians and the success of their arms as against Turkey, was indicated 
in the dispatch sent by Earl Derby to Prince Gortchakoff on the 6th 
of May, 18 YT, just after the beginning of the war, when the unob- 
structed navigation of the Suez Canal, respect for the integrity of 
Egypt, the freedom of Constantinople from occupation by other 
than its present possessors, the maintenance of the existing regula- 
tions concerning the navigation of the Bosporus and Dardanelles, 
and the British interests in the Persian Gulf, were mentioned as 
points which the Government was determined to defend. The re- 
ply of Prince Gortchakoff to the dispatch, while it disclaimed any 
intention on the part of Russia at striking immediately at any 
of the interests named by Earl Derby, was so hedged about with 
conditions and reservations, that it gave no real assurance that in 
the course of the war some excuse would not be found for putting 
some of these objects in peril. 

Six months after Earl Derby's note was written, at the Lord 
Mayor's banquet in London, IS'ovember 9th, Earl Beaconsfield, the 
Premier, repeated the points which the Foreign Secretary had stated, 
in almost the same words. Her Majesty's Government, he said, had 
declared their policy at the outset of the war. It was not a policy 
framed for the occasion, and merely because war had been declared, 
but was one whicli had been deeply considered, it was unanimously 
adopted, and had been unanimously maintained. It was the policy 
of conditioned neutrality, of a neutrality which must cease if British 
interests were menaced. The Premier combafcted the idea that Tur- 
key was an effete State, not able to be independent, which was con- 
tradicted, he said, by the bravery and achievements of the half 
million of warriors it had put into the field. 

The Liberal statesmen gave free expression to their views on 
every suitable occasion. The words of Mr. Gladstone, in particular, 
were remarkably strong, whether in his public speeches or in the 
articles which he gave to the public through the Press. Speaking 
in the House of Commons on the 14th of May, he said that the war 
might even now be ended within a fortnight if England would con- 
sent to restore the European concert, and pointed out what a dis- 
grace it would be to England if the liberty of the Chi'istians were 



ENGLAND AND RUSSIA. 



6S7 



secured bj an agreement between Turkey and liussia alone. Speak- 
ing to the Exeter Liberal Association on tlie 13tli of July, he 
lamented that England had not been the means of avoiding the war, 
as it might have "been, if it had promoted the concert of Europe in- 
stead of checking it, if it had contemplated vigorous action instead 
of idle words. He had no doubt that if the Government had twelve 
months, or even nine or six months before declared to Turkey that 
Europe was in earnest and must not be triHed with, the Christians 
would have been relieved by a process perfectly safe and effectual," 
and peace would have been preserved. He was very sorry to say 
that there were many indications " of a disposition to raise vain 
alarms about British interests, which are in no danger at all. Let 
us," he said, on the other hand, preach the doctrine of British du- 
ties. Let us recollect what was the undimmed brilliancy of British 
honor ; let us remember that this question of the East is not for us 
a new question ; - that it is through us that Turkey now enjoys the 
power she has been so grievously and scandalously misusing, that it 
is our duty to endeavor to redress the mischief that we may uncon- 
sciously have done." 

Mr. John Bright, in a speech at Bradford on the 25th of July, 
said that England was utterly alone in Europe with respect to the 
closing of the Bosporus and to any question of danger as con- 
nected with the closing of the Suez Canal. Among other nations 
the English demands were felt to be unreasonable and arrogant, and 
he confessed that he sometimes felt that the English were in danger 
of a European combination against them, and that they would find 
themselves not triumphant, but baffled." 

Lord Hartington, the recognized Parliamentary leader of the 
Liberals, speaking at Glasgow, Scotland, on the 6th of ITovember, 
said that to see in the Eastern Question nothing whatever except the 
question of the security of the route to India, was a totally one-sided 
and totally inadequate view of the case, because it altogether set 
aside what was, after all, of the greatest interest to England in the 
matter, the preservation of peace. The Government had boasted 
that the policy which they were pursuing was a selfish policy. He 
was not going to say that a selfish policy was necessarily a wrong 
one for a British Minister to pursue, but he would maintain that if 
a Government pursued a selfish policy, it ought to be not only selfish, 
but intelligent. A policy which looked entirely to British interests, 
omitting all consideration of the interest of other States, was not 



658 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



intelligent; because, however naturally English people might take 
this view, it was impossible to expect it would be taken by other 
nations. 

Lord JSTorthbrook, a former Yiceroy of India, made a decided 
speech at Winchester on the 9th of Xorember, in which he utterly 
condemned the idea that Russia could be dangerous to the British 
dominion in India. It had fallen to his lot, he said, in 1853, when 
the English were at war with Russia, to be one of those who were 
directed to inquire whether Russia could affect the British in India, 
or they could injure Russia in Central Asia. They came to the 
conclusion that the idea of a Russian attack on India was perfectly 
futile." The danger was " a mere bugbear." If this was true in 
1853, it was much more true now, for the British were much 
stronger in India than in 1853, the European army having been 
tripled, and the triangular railway completed. The extension of 
Russia in Central Asia, he said, was a natural process, like their own 
extension in India, and was attended on the whole with benefit, a 
point which was illustrated by the suppression, under Russian 
pressure, of the atrocious slave trade carried on by the Turkoman 
tribes. These remarks had the more force, since the pohcy which 
Lord E'orthbrook had pursued as Viceroy in India, as well as that 
which Lord Lawrence, another very successful Yiceroy, had fol- 
lovv^ed, had been in accordance with the views expressed in them. 

Mr. Forster gave a novel view of the case, and one wholly con- 
tradictory of the fears which the Conservatives had urged that 
news of Russian victories would rouse all the East against British 
rule, when he pointed out in his speech at Bristol in I^ovember, that 
the defeat of Europe in Asia by a Mohammedan power would be at 
least as threatening to British rule in Asia as the occupation of 
Erzerum by Russia. 

These views, so .firmly and ably expressed by men for whom all 
Englishmen had a sincere respect, had an assuring effect upon the 
minds of the people at large, and were reflected in a modified tone 
of the more thoughtful Conservative speakers, and in the appear- 
ance of articles calculated to assuage apprehension in journals 
whose affiliations would have justified the expectations of declara- 
tions from them of the most alarming character. 

The Satu7'daA/ Review^ a journal which speaks to the more cul- 
tivated class of English Conservatives, and is read by all the world, 
in its issue of the 10th of ^^^ovember, when the Russian conquest of 



ENGLAND AND RUSSIA. 



659 



Armenia had become a foregone conclusion, brought forward sev- 
eral considerations as tending to show that the result would not be 
as injurious to British interests as had been apprehended. It said : 

With the exception of Batum, all Eastern Armenia is virtually 
in the possession of the conquerors, and the acquisition may be per- 
manently retained if it is thought advisable. ITone of the Conti- 
nental Powers have any motive for objecting to tne extension of 
Eussian dominion in Asia, and the alarm wdiich has been expressed 
by some English writers is not a little fanciful. The possession of 
the upper valley of a river offers no especial facilities for the 
acquisition of the territory further down. If the Eussians hereafter 
wish to conquer Bagdad, or the plains between the Euphrates and 
the Tigris, it will matter little whether their base of operations is 
Alexandropol or Kars. It is not altogether desirable that Eussia 
should occupy the nearest land passage to India, but no practicable 
route exists at present through the Yalley of the Euphrates ; and, in 
other respects, there is as little strategic connection between Ar- 
menia and India as between the Pyrenees and Poland. English- 
men may, for the present, regard with equanimity a Eussian annex- 
ation, w^iieli they are in any case powerless to prevent." 

A parallel view, from a stand-point outside of England, w^as given 
in the Allgemeine Zeitung, one of the leading papers of Germany, 
of the 25th of October. It showed that English interests in Ar- 
menia were really very insignificant ; that the preponderance of 
their interests in South-eastern Turkey lay in the extreme corner 
of the Empire, as at Bagdad and Bozra, and a few other points 
around the Persian Gulf and along the Persian frontier ; and that 
no English statesman had ever shown, or could show, what was the 
connection between these points and Armenia or any of the neg- 
lected Black Sea ports, for no such connection existed. Moreover, 
British interests had, within ten years, been drawn toward the line 
between the Nile and the Syro-Phoenician coasts and the Persian 
Gulf, while those of Eussia w^ere identical with the ancient trade- 
routes from the Black Sea through Armenia to JSTorthern Persia. 
These two lines run parallel only in theory. Between them lay 
the whole Turkish Empire, and all the differences in productions, 
wants, material and spiritual conditions of the Korth and the South. 
The danger to English interests in A.rmenia was mostly imaginary, 
for the English had no important interests there. They had no 
trade through Erzerum or Armenia to India. Of the three hundred 
36 



66o 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



steamers wliich entered tlie port of Trebizond annually, one-tliird 
were Russian and only five bore the English flag ; and of the one 
thousand vessels which called at three other ports on the same coast, 
only seven were English. In fact, England had had no relations 
with this region for ten years. 

Even some of the Conservative statesmen, and men who had rela- 
tions with the Government, took occasion sometimes to speak, dep- 
recating agitation. Sir Stafford ISTorthcote, on the 24th of January, 
1877, said, at a Conservative meeting, that the Government had no 
unworthy jealousy of Russia, and to say that they had ever abstained 
from anything that they thought would be useful and right, because 
of such a feeling, was distinctly false, and great harm had been 
done by the propagation of the idea that they were guided by it. 

The Marquis of Salisbury, Secretary of State for India, who was 
the special representative of the British Government at the Confer- 
ence of the powers at Constantinople, in December, 1876, at a ban- 
quet held on the 11th of June, made light of the fears that the Rus- 
sian advance would involve danger to India, and set out against 
them the picture of a friend of his, who, he assumed, lived at the 
Cape of Good Hope, that the same advances were a serious me*nace 
to South Africa. 

Earl Derby was visited on the 28th of ]N"ovember, 1877, by a deputa- 
tion of three societies, seeking active interference in favor of Turkey. 
He replied that he could not, for his own part, think that the true 
line of communication between England and India lay through the 
Euphrates Yalley. He believed that, so long as they had the Suez 
Canal uninterrupted and unimpeded, they had a communication 
sufficient for all purposes. Some one having suggested that the 
Suez Canal would be endangered if the Russians should get Trebi- 
zond, he answered that that was difficult of proof, and he should 
have to suspend his judgment upon the point. He thought there 
was no immediate danger of the Afghans being joined, in case of a 
revolt, by the Mohammedan population of India, l^o such co-oper- 
ation had been given in the war of twenty-five years ago, and he 
thought it would not be given now. 

As the year drew to a close, a plain division appeared in the Cab- 
inet, Earl Beaconsfield leading the party which favored the assump- 
tion of a hostile attitude toward Russia, and Earl Derby and those 
who agreed with him advocating a continued neutrality and the 
preservation of peace. This division grew more marked as the cer- 



ENGLAND AND RUSSIA. 



66i 



tainty of the Enssiaii triumph became more apparent ; it continued 
to "widen as the discussions over the attitude which the Government 
should pursue, in view of the behavior of Russia with reference to 
the questions involved in its treaty of peace with Turkey, grew 
more animated, and resulted in the resignation of Earl Derby as 
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on the 28th of March, 1878. 

The dano-er of collision between Eno^land and Russia is remote 
and contingent, and could be easily avoided if the two nations would 
put aside their jealousy. Those Englishmen who entertain a mor- 
bid fear of a conflict mistake a possibility for a probabiKty, and are 
contributing more than any other cause by their passionate expres- 
sions to increase the danger of it arising. The two nations have no 
occasion to contend in Asia. Each has more territory than it desires, 
and feels burdened by the extent and responsibility of its dominions; 
and each has work enough to employ it a century in developing the 
resources and assimilating the peoples of its acquisitions. Both 
States affirm, with truth, that they have been driven to successive 
conquests by the necessity of preserving peace on their borders, and 
of protecting vested interests ; and it follows, that when they shall 
have extended their dominions so as to join, they will have no oc- 
casion to quarrel ; for they will have assured the preservation of 
peace and the protection of vested interests throughout the con- 
tinent. 

The occupation of the whole of Central Asia by G-reat Britain 
and Russia would be of vast benefit to the countries immediately 
concerned, and would constitute a strong impulse to civilization. 
Good has followed every conquest that either country has made in 
these- regions. British rule has been a great blessing to India. It 
has brought that vast and populous country into the family of civil- 
ized nations ; has delivered its inhabitants from a host of petty 
tyrannies ; has freed them from the slavery of brutal customs and 
degrading superstitions, furnishing them instead the opportunity to 
improve their manhood ; has developed the resources of the country, 
filling it with railroads and all modern inventions ; has stimulated 
enterprise and built up commerce, and infused life and promoted 
gi'owth where everything was still and in decay. It is just, though 
severe, and Hindoos and Mohammedans acknowledge its excellence, 
w^hile they complain of it as a foreign domination. Every neigh- 
•boring State to which it is extended feels an immediate benefit 
from it, and the adjoining barbarous principalities which have not 



662 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



yet received it are taught bj wliat they can obsei-ve of its fruits, 
that there are desirable gifts in the way of law and arts which they 
have not reached. The world has also learned much that is valuable 
from India, for which it is indebted largely to British agency in 
making accessible the treasuries of knowledge which the Empire 
contains. 

In a similar manner Hussia, however much we may deprecate the 
application of its despotic theories of government to civilized 
European States, has conferred incalculable good on the barbarous 
hordes of Central Asia by subjugating them. It has substituted 
law and order where arbitrary caprice, violence, and robbery pre- 
vailed. For the first time in their history, the Turkomans know 
what it is to be governed under an established system, with fixed 
rules, based upon principles which regard the rights of persons and 
property. Profitable industries and a settled life are being intro- 
duced into districts which were formerly ravaged every year by pred- 
atory nomads. Colonies are being planted to till the waste places 
and make the desert fruitful. Railroads and telegraphs are built ; 
plans are on foot for restoring the rivers and canals for irrigation, 
and measures are contemplated which have in view the conversion 
of lands which only anarchy has made barren into productive coun- 
tries. The fact appears through all the works of the few persons 
who have visited Turkistan, that the Turkomans, while they profess 
to hate the Russians, appreciate the better order and the promise of 
future prosperity which they have given them. 

The destinies of Asia seem to have fallen into the hands of these 
two powers. While they both have so much that they can accomplish 
for the good of mankind and their own glory in their own especial 
fields it would be criminal for them to quarrel. While the field of 
action is so large for each, there is no need that they should quarrel. 
Those men are the wisest and the nearest to the truth who point out 
that there is no real occasion for collision between them. If their 
statesmen shall be able to agree upon a line of division which shall 
limit the march of the one to the East, of the other to the West, 
and then go to work in good faith, each to build up their own Em- 
pire, peace would be assured, civilization extended, and the world at 
large as well as the people of Asia would receive incalculable benefit. 
The best statesmen of Russia and England look to this as the end 
of all tiieir negotiations and suspicions. No good reason exists why 
it should not be reached very soon. 



CHAPTEE YII. 



THE XATIOJTALITY PEINCIPLE AND THE FINAL ISSUE OF THE EASTERN 

QUESTION, 

The End of the War brings New Complications— New Conflicting Interests— How shall 
they be Settled ?— The Influences which Control the Adjustment of State Lines- 
Dynastic Consideration? — The Principle of Nationalities — Its History — Italian and 
German Unity— The Nationality Principle in Austria— Its Application to European 
Turkey— Indications that it will gain Strength— It affords the Best Guide to a Final 
Adjustment. 

The ending of the war has not brought a settlement of the Eastern 
Question, but has only caused it to be presented in a new aspect, 
hardly less formidable than those with which the world has hitherto 
been bewildered. The arrangements of the Treaty of San Stefano 
are only a first step in a road which promises to be full of difficulties 
and complications, to engage the attention of the peoples and powers 
of Europe, and involve them in future misunderstandings, and per- 
haps wars. The Turks have at last been so nearly driven out of 
Europe, that it has become evident to all that their final expulsion is 
only a question of time, and their Empire, which only four hundred 
years ago was the terror of the civilized world, has been put back to 
a position of inferiority and doomed to a certain gradual extinction. 
'New States have been set up to take a part of its place in Europe, 
and the candidates are claiming the rest of the portion to be divided 
out in a few years if not now. This, which has been accomplished, 
although it is much, is only the beginning of the trouble. To ex- 
tend the use of that which has been a favorite figure among the Eu- 
ropean diplomatists, the sick man is dead ; next begins the quarrel- 
ling over his will. 

We have described in the previous chapters the most important of 

the conflicting interests and jealousies which impede the permanent 

settlement of the affairs of the Balkan peninsula. They are partly 

intrinsic and essential, but some of them are of outside origin, and 

their relation to Turkey is only one of their incidents. This, how- 

(663) 



664 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



ever, does not prevent their being very formidable subjects for con- 
sideration. The intrinsic and essential interests concern the welfare 
and relations of the Christian peoples of European Tui'kej. The 
four different nationalities to whom the Balkan peninsula seems 
chiefly to belong, rub against each other at several points, and are so 
mixed at their boundaries that it is hard to tell, for some distance, 
on either side of the hne, where one begins and the other ends. The 
Eulgarians and the Servians overlap each other through a consider- 
able district, so that in the adjustment of their respective territories, 
which has been made by the Treaty of San Stefano, either nation is 
aggrieved that a part of the territory which it believes should be 
given to it, is allotted to the other. The Russians, moreover, have 
pro\-ided so Hberally for Bulgaria, as to have given it considerable 
possessions along the sea-coast which were regarded as more properly 
belonging to the Greeks. These difficulties, however, which are of 
not uncommon occurrence among peoples which occupy adjoining 
territories, would be simple and comparatively easy of settlement, 
were they not complicated by the outside difficulties which engage 
the attention of the nations who are to decide upon the adjustment 
to a much larger degree than the wishes of the provinces. Prominent 
among these are the jealousy and fear of Russia, which h ave been 
aggravated by the easy disposition it has made of Turkey, and by the 
determination it has manifested to go on in its own course regardless 
of the protests of its neighbors. Russia is regarded, particularly by 
Austria, as the embodiment of Panslavism, and Panslavism is looked 
upon as a greedy monster, which is going to swallow everything that 
is Slavic, and a good deal that is not Slavic, if only a trifle of Slavic 
is mixed with it, and whose progress is sure to produce other Eastern 
complications indeflnitely. As it is threatened on one side by Rus- 
sia and Panslavism, so Austria is threatened on the other side by the 
progress of two of the new States — Rumania, whose peoples are 
affiliated with those of its provinces of Bukowina and Transylvania, 
and Servia, whose people and its own south Slavs have long dreamed 
of union and independence together. The contest between England 
and Russia for dominion in the East, if it comes to blows, is likely to 
be one of portentous magnitude and of indefinite duration. Both pow- 
ers are too large and their interests are too extensive, for either to 
yield without an exhausting struggle. The particular point on which 
the attention of these two nations is now centered — Constantinople 
— has been the pivot upon which all the Eastern troubles have, till 



THE NATIONALITY PRINCIPLE, 



665 



very recently, hinged ; it is too important a point to be trusted in the 
hands of any strong power. It has been left with Turkey because 
Turkey being weak could do no harm with it, and leaving it there 
saved the trouble of providing a new disposition for it. Europe will 
not quietly see England and Russia disposing of Constantinople alone ; 
and the war, or the negotiations, for its control can hardly fail to in- 
volve the whole world, and lead to incalculable perplexities. Thus 
the final issue is uncertain, and as far from settlement as ever. It, 
in fact, admits of no lasting settlement, unless some just, equitable, 
and impartial basis can be found on which all nations can be forced 
to agree, as a principle, by a reference to which all the points shall 
be decided. 

The history of the nineteenth century gives some valuable in- 
struction respecting the character and strength of the agencies 
which are likely to be chiefly instrumental in shaping the future of 
the Eastern complication, and furnishes also a clue to the principle 
to which the ultimate settlement will have to conform. The cen- 
tury has been marked by the predominance of two great and often 
opposing influences operating to control the boundaries and rela- 
tions of States, one of which, although it seemed all-powerful during 
the first years of the century, has had to yield to the other wherever 
the two have come in conflict, and seems now to be gradually being 
supplanted by the other. The first of these influences is that of 
dynastic considerations, under the weight of which the great powers 
combined to adjust and preserve a balance of control on the con- 
tinent in such a manner as it was thought would secure their own 
strength and growth, regardless of the interests of the smaller States 
and of all other considerations, and would protect them against real 
or fancied dangers which might arise from the increase of any of 
them singly, from the rise of new States, or from new combinations 
of other States. The dynastic considerations have so far, as we 
have seen in the preceding chapters, been the commanding in- 
fluences which have prevented the solution of the Eastern Question, 
and under which Turkey has been upheld as a power so long after 
it had lost its capacity to maintain a real self-existence. Under the 
influence of these considerations, Europe was parceled out, by the 
treaties of 1815, among a certain number of ruling families, in total 
disregard of natural boundary lines or of the rights of the people, 
in such a manner that of a few selected dynasties none should be 
strong enough to become a terror to any of the others. Thus, it 



666 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



was imagined, the occurrence of new disturbances among the States 
and the rise of new complications could be postponed for an in- 
definite period. 

This arrangement, which the diplomats of the Great Powers of 
the time thought was to be their lasting monument, has been 
thoroughly destroyed within the last thirty years, by the operation 
of various causes, the chief of which is the second influence we have 
mentioned — that of the principle of nationalities. This principle 
impels the dismembered portions of peoples having the same origin 
and speaking the same language, who have had at some time a 
common history, and have certain interests in common, to seek each 
other out, afiiliate with each other, and form a political union un der 
a central government. Under its operation, the map of Europe 
has undergone important changes since the revolutions of 1848, in 
connection with which its first marked manifestations were made. 
It is still a living force, and is destined to produce still further 
changes in the relations of States. It has been successfully applied 
to the reorganization of two of the most important countries of 
Europe — Italy and GeiTaany. Italy was disorganized by the over- 
throw of the Eoman Empu-e, and had been broken auto a number 
of weak commonwealths ever since. The contentions of its rival 
States and factlcns had become a European scandal. Its people 
were despised, and were accredited with all the vices, and hardly 
any of the virtues. It was reparceled by the Treaty of Vienna 
into a number of petty States, some of which were contemptible in 
dimensions, and placed under the control of as many sovereigns, 
most of whom were also contemptible, and despots besides, and 
were branches aud tools of the house of Austria. Besides the Pope, 
only one of all the princes which were provided for it was an Italian. 
This was the king of Sardinia. The contrast of the Italy of 1848 
with the peninsula which had shone with the glories of ancient 
* Pome was terrible ; and the idea that the country could be regen- 
erated was regarded as impossible, and the aspirations of the people 
for national unity, which then began to be heard, were considered 
fit subjects for ridicule. The sneer, " Italy is a geographical ex- 
pression," was often repeated, in a tone indicating that the coun- 
try could never hope to be again anything else. The revolutionary 
efforts of 1848 gave voice to a call of the people for Itahan unity. 
The call was echoed by the one Italian prince of the peninsula, the 
king of Sardinia, and was supported by the arm and enthusiasm of 



THE NATIONALITY PRINCIPLE. 



667 



Garibaldi, and the sagacious counsel of Cavonr. Eacli worked in his 
own way for the realization of the idea, and with equal effect, 
Garibaldi inspiring the people, the king extending the welcome 
protection of the State over them, the minister devising constitu- 
tional provisions. The Anstrians were driven from most of Lom- 
bardy in 1S59 ; fonr States of the center entered the Union in 1860. 
Garibaldi won Sicily in the same year ; Yenice and Yerona were 
gained from Anstria in 1S66, and the last remaining part of the 
peninsula was recovered, and Yictor Emmanuel was proclaimed 
King of all Italy at its eternal capital in 1870. Under the opera- 
tion of the principle of nationality, this country, which was hope- 
lessly divided, despised, and a reproach, within the memory of 
young men has become a compact nation, enjoying popular self- 
government, and is now one of the freest and most progressive States 
of civihzation, and one of the acknowledged Great Powers of 
Europe. 

The German Empire had ceased to be a solid State two hundred 
years ago. Under the increase of Pnissia, and the growing rivalry 
between that kingdom and Anstria, the nation suffered from divis- 
ions and lost in strength. During the wars of ]S"apoleon, the name 
of the Empire disappeared. It was succeeded by the German Con- 
federation, then by tlie Zollverein (or Customs Union), neither of 
which had any strong bond of connection, or were able to make the 
German name felt abroad as it had been felt dnrins^ the whole of 
the middle ages. Germany was so happy as to escape the deca- 
dence of Italy, for its people always preserved their intellectual 
eminence, and never let go the traditions of their fatherland, but it 
was wholly without influence. Austria and Prussia were known as 
bitter rivals, whose conflicts always defeated national aspirations ; 
besides these powers, were numerous smaller States, some of which 
were very insignificant, and all of which, despite their wealth and 
high civilization, counted for nothing in the world's politics. Ar 
effort was made, during the revolutions of 1818, to bring the thirtj- 
nine States into a closer union, but it was defeated by an adverse 
combination of circumstances, partly of home, partly of foreign ori- 
gin. The national principle, hovrever, was strong, and would pre- 
vail over all obstacles. It was first manifested effectively in the 
war which resulted in incorporating the German provinces of Den- 
mark with the Confederation, in 1861:. Then Austria and Prussia 
quarreled in 1S66, and the war which ensued resulted in the exclu- 



668 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



sion of Austria, and the establishment of Prussia as the leading 
State of Germany. Prussia united the l^orthern States with itself 
into the ISTortli German Confederation, and began the building up 
of a solid Germany. The war with France led to the adhesion of 
the Southern States to this confederation, and the restoration of the 
German name to a position of influence. King William, the vic- 
torious, was crowned at the capital of France Emperor of Germany, 
on the 18th of January, 1871, and the new Empire at once assumed 
the acknowledged position of the first power in actual strength and 
influence on the earth. The annexation of Alsace and Lorraine to 
Germany, which was one of the incidents of this great event, is an- 
other triumph of the nationality principle, inasmuch as it was the 
restoration to their normal national relations of two German prov- 
inces w^hich had long been held by France. 

Besides Italy and Germany, the two European countries which 
have been most conspicuously agitated by the question of nationali- 
ties are Austria and Turkey. I^early all the troubles which Aus- 
tria suflers, and has suffered since 1848, may be ascribed to the 
working of this question. It was at the bottom of the Hungarian 
Eevolution in 1818. The Magyars sought the recognition of their 
nationality, and its elevation to influence in Hungary. They were 
opposed by the Slavs, who wished to be recognized in the same dis- 
tricts, and by the Germans, who were not then willing to divide 
their power. The Compromise of 1867 was a recognition of the 
national claims of the Magyars, and gave peace to the nation on 
that quarter. It, however, did not satisfy the Slavs, but rather 
increased their urgency for recognition, to which the Government 
yielded by making partial concessions to the Croats. Besides these 
nationalities, the Czechs, the Poles, the Servians, the Lithuanians, 
and the Kumanians, all form distinct and sometimes opposing com- 
munities, whose appetite for recognition has been whetted by what 
has been done for their neighbors. As Austria has already lost its 
Italian provinces and its influence in Germany, by the agitation of 
this question, so it is likely to lose other of its populations, unless it 
can devise some means of satisfying them all without loosing them 
from the State — a problem which may fitly tax the resources of the 
ablest minds and the most fertile in expedients. 

Of the aspirations of the four nationalities in Turkey, those of 
one — the Bulgarians- — have been the most fully met. They have, 
in fact, got more than they had reason to expect. The fact can not 



THE NATIONALITY PRINCIPLE. 



669 



fail, however, to excite the desires of the others to the liigliest pitch, 
one of which, the Greek, has as yet obtained nothing, hut sees a 
part of what it claimed given to its rival, tlie Bulgarians. The 
Greeks, and the Servians of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are still dis- 
satisfied, and — the Greeks, at least — will never give up the struggle 
till they have gained what they are convinced, now more firmly 
than ever, is their right. 

The more education advances among these struggling nationahties, 
the more will the masses begin to participate actively in their efforts 
for the realization of their national hopes. Those who have the 
management of educational affairs, will take care, as the regenerators 
of Bulgaria have done, and as the Greeks are doing, that the instruc- 
tion given is national in spirit and influence. The literature of all 
the nationalities, which already, even in the present condition of 
general ignorance, forms a strong bond between them, is thoroughly 
impregnated with the national aspirations, and will strengthen the 
movement for national autonomy just in proportion as the masses 
of the people are able to read and digest it. As Homer was the 
bond of the ancient Greeks, as German literature has been a tower 
of strength in cementing the unity of the German race, as Dante in 
the middle ages planted, and Manzoni and Gioberti in modern times 
revived and stimulated the Italian sentiment for unity, and as liter- 
ature has proved a powerful weapon with the Panslavists, so are the 
poets and story-tellers of Eumania and Servia and Bulgaria and 
Modern Greece — and they are not few — cultivating and dififasing 
and strengthening similar sentiments among the people to whom 
they speak. Thus the cohesive force of these nationalities is con- 
stantly tending to become stronger ; and how tenacious a nationality 
can be, under the most adverse circumstances, is exemplified in the 
case of the Poles, upon whom even the alluring temptations of Pan- 
slavism have as yet exerted no influence. 

J^one of the nationalities of Turkey or Austria can furnish the 
constituents for a new Empire on the basis of nationality equal to a 
united Italy or a united Germany. JSTone of them has a population 
to compare with that of Italy or of Germany. The Poles num- 
ber about 11,000,000; the Kumanians, 8,000,000; the Servians, 
7,500,000 ; the Czechs, 7,000,000 ; the Bulgarians, 5,000,000 ; while 
Italy has a population of 26,800,000 and Germany one of 42,727,000. 
Those nationalities which are destined to see their aspirations fulfilled 
win owe their deliverance or extension, like Bulgaria, to the pro- 



6/0 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



tection or co-operation of one of the larger powers, acting roore for 
selfish interests than for the fulfillment of any abstract principle. 
But as the popular sympathy of the Italians with the Govennnent 
of Sardinia aided in the foundation of the Kingdom of Italy ; as 
Prussia needed the co-operation of the movement for nationality 
among the Germans for the establishment of the German Empire ; 
and as the national aspirations of the Christian populations of 
European Turkey have played a prominent part in the overthrow 
of Turkish rule in Europe — so the aspirations of the nationalities, 
which still remain dismembered for union and restoration, may be 
expected to form an important factor in the transformation of South- 
eastern Europe ; that is to say, in the solution of the Eastern Ques- 
tions which are hereafter to be brought to the surface. 

In view of the great uncertainty which even the leading states- 
men of Europe feel with regard to the future of the Eastern Ques- 
tion, and in view of the constant shifting of the aspect of affairs 
and arising of new complications, it would be foolish, as well as use- 
less, to risk any definite prediction as to the final solution of the 
problem. It is, however, safe to predict that the course of the ques- 
tion will always be influenced by the workings of the principle of 
nationality, combined with dynastic considerations, chiefly of Rus- 
sia, Austria, and England. Kussia and the Panslavists will continue 
to press for a solution in the interest of the Slavic nations and Rus- 
sian preponderance ; Austria, while it can not long ignore the rights 
of its Slavs and possibly of its Rumanians, will seek to postpone a 
solution, or to make such a compromise of its interests, as it has done 
in the case of the Magyars and Croats, as wiU cause the least possible 
disturbance to the integrity and quiet of its own dominions ; while 
England may find it the best policy, in order to keep or wrest Con- 
stantinople from the Russians and make it as nearly neutral as be- 
tween the Great Powers as possible, to take up the cause of the 
Greeks and secure for them what remains of Southern European 
Turkey. A permanent solution can not be hoped for until the 
rights of all the nationalities are fully acknowledged and as fairly 
adjusted as the complex circumstances of the case will permit. 

The principle of nationalities is the one which gives, in the organ- 
ization of States, the fullest gratification to the desires and aspira- 
tions of the people, and the freest development to their growth and 
opportunity for the exercise of their energies. Its apphcation in- 
flicts no fundamental vtrongs upon the people, for it unites those 



THE NATIONALITY PRINCIPLE. 



671 



who have the most reason to wish to be united, and who are most 
readily attached to each other, and separates them from those who 
are alien to them in origin and sympathies. Under its operation, the 
spectacle can no longer be presented of a large people united in po- 
litical association with those they permanently hate, or of a race pos- 
sessing manly capacity crushed and oppressed by another of less or 
only equal civilization, under whose rule it has been forced, and 
which governs it only to drain its vital forces for the increase of its 
own strength. It will damage only the artificial constructions of 
States which have been formed in disregard of it, and whose con- 
tinued existence as despotisms over subject provinces is a reproach 
to liberty and a barrier to the progress of civilization ; and will dis- 
commode only those dynasties of rulers who, imagining that man- 
kind were made for the emolument and glorification of their houses, 
have partitioned the earth to suit their own convenience and ambitions. 

The arrangement of States according to the principle of nation- 
alities can not be, nor is it likely to be, hastily done. The applica- 
tion of the principle presupposes a condition of civilization and in- 
telligence on the part of the people who are to en joy the benefit of it, 
sufficient to enable them to manage their own aflPairs so that they shall 
become useful factors in civilization, and their possession of strength 
enough to maintain their national existence under all ordinaiy contin- 
gencies. A people who from any cause are intrinsically weak, must 
make terms with some more vigorous power, and abide under its 
protection. One which persists in keeping in the way of advance- 
ment, or remains inert and degraded, must expect to remain subor- 
dinate, and submit to the influence of whatever State takes it in 
hand, till it proves its capacity to maintain itself ; and it need not 
expect to emerge from that condition until it asserts itself and forces 
the recognition of its unity and independence, as the Italians and 
Germans have done, and the Christian peoples of Turkey are doing. 

The tendency in all the European States is for the people to lay more 
stress upon the principle of nationality, and for Governments to pay 
more deference to it. The process which has been so conspicuously 
manifested in a few of the States, is going on in many of the others, 
perhaps unconsciously, where it is hardly suspected. Every year wit- 
nesses new concessions to popular rights which involve some features 
of this principle. It is intimately associated with the doctrine of 
popular self-government, and with the American doctrine of local 
sovereignty. 



6/2 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



The future changes in the arrangement of the States of Europe 
may be expected to be made in conformity with this principle, as it 
is extended and becomes more generally acknowledged. They are 
not likely to be all violent, or be made more frequently, or on a 
larger scale, than they are now ; possibly, their operation will be 
slower than the operation of such changes has been for a thousand 
years in the past. For as the world becomes more civilized, and 
constitutional governments become more free, people become better 
eoutented with their lot, and less anxious to agitate for changes 
which are even reasonable. Even this situation, however, implies a 
recognition of the principle of nationality, for the operation of con- 
stitutional freedom is to give it scope within the State instead of 
compelling it to seek a held for its exercise without. The changes 
that are made, therefore, while they may be fewer, instead of being 
made to carry out the selfish aims of kings, will be made in obedience 
to the affiliations and tendencies of the people, and will be, in the 
most civilized States, more voluntary and less violent. 

Thus, by a slow process of natural separation and reunion, based 
upon the recognition of national affiliations and the " government of 
the people by the people for the people," resulting in the adjustment 
of the boundaries of States by natural hnes, a new balance of power 
will be gradually built up, destined to be as strong and lasting as 
that which the Congress of Vienna sought to establish was weak 
and transient. Each State having found its own proper limits and 
sphere of growth as determined by community of origin, language, 
and interests, will conform to them, will find its legitimate and 
most satisfactory field for the exercise of its energies within its own 
territory, its most prolific springs of power and renown in the build- 
ing up of its own resources, l^o State will have reason to fear 
aggression from its neighbor, for all will be alike busy within them- 
selves ; and a rivaliy among the nations in industry, in the culture 
of the arts and refinements of civilization, and in promoting the 
happiness and comfort of then* own people will take the place of the 
ceaseless conflicts of dynasties which have too long interrupted the 
progress of mankind. 



CHAPTER YIII. 



COMPLICATIONS AEISING- AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAE. 

Leaning of the Turks toward the Russians— Austrian Note to Russia on the Treaty of 
Peace— British Objections to the Treat}^— The British Fleet passes into the Sea of 
Marmora — Austria Issues an Invitation for an International Conference — Prince Bis- 
marck's Declaration in the German Parliament — Russia's Opposition to the Confer- 
ence — England Demands the Submission of the entire Treat}' — Threatened Rupture 
between Russia and England — Ignatieff Visits Vienna — British Circular to the Powers 
— The British Reserves Called Out — Intimate Relations of the Russians and Turks. 

The slow progress of the negotiations between the Russians and 
Turks was watched from the beginning with concern by all the 
powers, and with an anxiety which amounted to little less than 
alarm by Austria and England. It was evident that Russia had 
Turkey completely at its mercy. The Russian armies continued to 
advance, apparently irresistibly and without meeting even a show 
of resistance, notwithstanding it was understood that hostilities were 
suspended, and conferences had taken the place of battles. Every 
day they were coming nearer to Constantinople, and approaching 
positions whence they could command the navigation of the Straits. 
The danger seemed gradually to rise before the eyes of the watchers, 
and finally appeared imminent that Russia, in spite of the Treaty of 
Paris and its own promises often repeated, would seize Constanti- 
nople and the Straits, and dispose of the whole of European Turkey 
and its people, before any one could prevent it, and without con- 
sulting the views or interests of the two powers which imagined 
themselves immediately concerned. The delay which took place in 
the negotiations after they were begun was unaccountable, and be- 
came an object of suspicion, all the more because of the continued 
progress of the Russians. The British and Austrian Governments 
' took the earliest opportunity to intimate to the Russian Govern- 
ment and the Porte that they would not recognize conditions of 
peace in contravention of the terms of the Treaty of Paris in wliich 
Europe did not participate. The Russians answered witli assuring 
words, that all points in the treaty which were of European concern 

(673) 



6/4 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



would be submitted to a re\dew of the powers, and continued to 
treat and to occupy points nearer to Constantinople. The Turks 
seemed to have no longer any will of their own, but to have thrown 
themselves entirely into the arms of the Eussians. Crushed on 
every battle-field, having seen the British Government witness their 
utter defeat without moving a step in their favor, they seemed to 
have undergone one of those revulsions of feeling which often attend 
extreme disappointment, and turned the cold shoulder upon the old 
friends who they fancied had deserted them, to make friends of 
their former enemies — and the probabiHty of a Russo -Turkish 
alliance against England began to be talked of. The excitement 
was intensified by the rumors which were circulated concerning the 
points of the treaty which were under discussion. Some of them 
were so represented as to seem to touch European interests very 
sharply. The mystery which shrouded the negotiations all through 
January added to the force of these rumors. 

On the 30th of January, the Austrian Ambassador at St. Peters- 
burg delivered a note to Prince Gortchakoff, embodying a declaration 
on behalf of the Austro-Hungarian Government, that it in no way 
disputed Turkey's right to conclude treaties in its own interest, but 
must consider the arrangements then under consideration, so far as 
they might modify the present treaty or touch Austrian interests, 
as not falling within the right of Turkey until new arrangements 
had been made with the signatory powers of the Treaty of Paris. 
At about the same time it was stated that Count Andrassy had taken 
steps with the object of bringing about a joint action of Europe to 
prevent a prejudicial policy on the part of Pussia, and that Austria- 
Hungary would take the initiative in assembling a European Con- 
ference to discuss and determine all the points affecting the common 
interests of Europe. It was also said that the differences that had 
arisen betv/een Austria and Pussia were of so serious a character that 
the German Em^peror had been obliged to interpose in person, and 
entreat his two brother Emperors not to break up the Tri-Imperial 
Alliance. The Austrian objections to the treaty were unofficially 
stated in a telegram from Vienna, February 4th, to be, in substance, 
that the Pussian conditions were rather calculated to sow seeds of 
fresh troubles than promote a real and lasting peace. They destroyed 
Ottoman power in Europe without substituting anything in its place 
possessing guarantees of stability. The smaller States would receive 
just enough to make them wish for more, while Bulgaria, the largest 



COMPLICATIONS AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 675 

of tliem in extent and population, would become little more than a 
Kussian dependency. Restoration to the Czar of Bessarabia, with- 
out due equivalent to Rumania, would make Russia mistress of the 
mouths of the Danube. Thus, in the very preliminaries themselves 
there was much that must lead to discussion between Austria and 
Russia ; and the same must be the case, though perhaps to a lesser 
degree, with the other powers. Rumania had announced its claim 
to take part as a belligerent in the conchision of peace ; the Servians 
were disappointed with the rectification of the frontier allowed them 
by the Russian preliminaries, and insisted upon the possession of 
Old Servia down to the Lom ; and the Greeks had committed an 
act of war. " Thus the Eastern Question had been raised to its full 
extent." 

Sir Stafford ITorthcote, tlie Chancellor of the Exchequer, had 
made a statement of the British objections in the House of Commons 
on the 28th of January. The terms, as they had been reported, 
were very sweeping. The character of the autonomy for Bulgaria was 
not that agreed upon by the Constantinople Conference. Adminis- 
trative autonomy was then conceded ; now, there was provided total 
separation from Turkey, under a Prince. Under the Russian plan, 
the southern boundary of Bulgaria would be brought almost to the 
seas, and if the Prince for the new State was to be chosen by the 
Czar, as was reported with some appearance of authority, a power- 
ful State would be established in the very heart of Turkey, with a 
Prince devoted to Russian interests. Regarding tributaries becom- 
ing independent he would say nothing, but it must raise difficult 
questions, since it touched other interests. The indemnity condi- 
tion was very elastic. How Russia might elect to take the indemnit}^ 
and what territory she might ask were highly important to Europe. 
European concert was, therefore, necessary. The understanding re- 
garding the Straits might mean something or nothing, but it was a 
European — an English — interest. The conditions were matters upon 
which no separate understanding between the belligerents could be 
acknowledged by the powers. " We can not disguise the vast im- 
portance of the question now raised ; the keystone of South-eastern 
Europe is being removed." 

On the 8th of February it was announced in the British Parlia- 
ment, that a part of the English fleet had been ordered to proceed 
to the Turkish capital for the protection of British residents there. 
The Russian Government answered this by sending notifications to 
37 



6/6 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



all the powers that in consideration of what the British Govemraent 
had done, and of a similar course which it was said the other powers 
were adopting in the premises, it would be obliged, on its side, "to 
take into consideration the proper means of protecting those Chris- 
tians whose life and property might be threatened, and in order to 
attain this result, to contemplate the entry of a portion of onr troops 
into Constantinople." The Porte, however, refused to permit the 
English fleet to approach Constantinople, and the Russians had no 
excuse for occupying the city at that time. 

On the 3d of February, the Austrian Cabinet issued formal invita- 
tions to the Governments of the signatory powers of the Treaty of 
Paris, to send representatives to a conference to be held at Vienna. 
The invitation was accepted by all the powers. Russia objected to 
the Congress being held at a large capital, and presented a definition 
of the task of the Conference, reserving some very important ques- 
tions for the decision of Russia and Turkey, to the exclusion of the 
signatory powers, among which were the reorganization of Bulgaria, 
the occupation of that country by Russian troops, and the re-annex- 
ation of Southern Bessarabia. 

This effort to limit the functions of tbe Conference, together with 
the appearance that the Russians would find some pretext for enter- 
ing Constantinople, threw a cloud for a time upon the prospects of 
the Conference, and the Austrian Cabinet began to consider the sub- 
ject of mobilizing its army. A rupture between Austria and Russia 
and an alliance of the former power with England seemed probable, 
when Prince Bismarck performed the office of mediator, and inti- 
mated to Prince Gortchakoff, in the name of the German Govern- 
ment, that Russia must not strain the situation beyond reasonable 
bounds. 

Prince Bismarck made a speech in the German Parliament on 
the 19th of February, in which he defined the policy of the Imperial 
Government. The interests of Germany were not affected by the 
preliminaries of peace in such a manner as to oblige it to deviate 
from its previous attitude. The apprehensions respecting the Dar- 
danelles were not justified by the actual situation. He did not be- 
lieve in a European war, as the powers which opposed Russia 
would have to assume the responsibility of the legacy left by Tur- 
key. A Russian offieial ,eommuni cation made it certain that the 
chief interest of Germany, namely, the freedom of the water-ways, 
as the Straits of the Dardanelles, for commerce, would be maintained. 



COMPLICATIONS AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 677 

He believed it was Russia's interest to come to an understanding, and 
not have the fear of complications with Austria or England con- 
stantly impending. He denoanced the idea of Germany engaging 
in a war with reference to the Eastern Question, declaring that 
nothing should induce him to hazard a rupture with any power re- 
specting questions in which Germany had no direct interest, and re- 
jected, emphatically, all suggestions that Germany should intervene, 
declaring that it was willing honorably to mediate, but did not wish 
to exercise the office of arbiter of Europe. Germany was on the 
most friendly terms with Russia and Austria, and had not a single 
interest, except friendly rivaliy in trade, antagonistic to England. 

Russia having objected to the meeting of the Conference in 
Yienna, Baden-Baden was selected as the place of meeting. It 
was afterward understood, however, that it would meet in Berlin. 

The question arose duiing the negotiations whether the meeting 
should take the form of a conference of the representative members 
of the Cabinets of the several powers, or of a Congress of Plenipo- 
tentaries appointed especially to attend it. Questions arose respect- 
ing the admission of the smaller powers — Rumania, Servia, and 
Greece — to the Conference. Rumania sought to be represented in 
order to protest against the retrocession of its Bessarabian territory 
to Russia, Servia to press its claims for Old Servia which the treaty 
gave to Bulgaria, Greece because it felt neglected by having had 
no provision made for it, and wronged by the inclusion of Greek 
communities in the new principality of Bulgaria. It was suggested 
that the vassal States should have the privilege of sending delegates 
to represent their interests, without having a voice in the ultimate 
decision. 

Formidable differences arose concerning the scope of the Confer- 
ence. Russia desired to have submitted to it only those points of 
the treaty which were manifestly of European concern. Great 
Britain insisted that the whole of the treaty should be submitted, 
without reservation. Russia professed not to dispute the right of 
the Conference to decide what clauses of the treaty involved Euro- 
pean interests, but declined to concede a jpriori its right to pass 
upon all the points. 

France expressed a wish that the Conference, or Congress, be 
confined in its deliberations to the Eastern Question, fearing that 
otherwise it might claim the right to sanction all recent territorial 
changes. It also desired to 4iave all questions concerning the holy 



6;8 



THE WAR IN THE EAST. 



places excluded, as introducing a needless complication and touch- 
ing Syria, which France expected to have oifered it some day in 
compensation for England's occupation of Egypt. 

Italy avowed its intention to preserve its neutrality on the East- 
ern Question, but to exert to the utmost its influence in the Confer- 
ence to oppose Russian preponderance in Europe, by seeking to ex- 
tend the Hellenic Kingdom and constituting other Christian nation- 
alities. 

The demand of England for the submission of the whole agree- 
ment between Eussia and Turkey was based partly on the appre- 
hension that special and secret arrangements had been entered into 
independent of the principal treaty, and it would be useless to ex- 
amine the latter except under a guarantee that it contained all that 
had been done. Kussia, while denying that any secret engagement 
existed, avoided giving a direct answer to the British demand, but 
replied that an obligation to submit all the clauses of the treaty was 
quite unnecessary, as the whole treaty would be known before the 
Conference met, and the plenipotentiaries could discuss which 
clauses should be submitted for consideration. The English ob- 
jected to this, that, by its adoption, the previous question would be 
raised on every clause of the treaty, except those which Russia 
brought forward of its own accord. The difference between the 
two Governments was apparently one of words and diplomatic pres- 
tige, rather than of essentials, but their experiences of Russian diplo- 
macy had taught the English that, with those experts in the use 
of terms of double significance, the most trifling terms of expression 
may involve great distinctions of hidden meaning. 

While the attempt was making to settle these questions, the time 
of the meeting of the Conference was put off from the early part of 
March till the last of that month, then till the middle of April. 

As the differences between England and Russia became more 
and more evident, the Russians directed their efforts to making 
terms with Austria. E'otwithstanding the opposition of the Hun- 
garians to having anything to do with the Slavs of Turkey, the 
Austrian Government had been led to look favorably upon the 
occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an offset to the extension 
of Russian influence in Bulgaria, and had been encouraged by Rus- 
sia in the idea of such occupation. The Austrian Government had 
also applied to the Chambers for a credit of six millions florins, 
similar to the credit which the Englfeh Government had obtained 



COMPLICATIONS AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 679 

from Parliament. General Ignatieff was dispatched by the Kussian 
Government to Yienna toward the end of March, in an effort to 
remove the Austrian opposition to the schemes of the Czar. This 
done, England would be isolated, and Kassia could venture to defy 
it. The negotiations failed to secure the desired result. Count 
Audrassy informed General Ignatieff that the whole tendency of 
the treaty was in opposition to the interests of Europe, and that no 
lasting peace could be concluded without the sanction of all the 
powers. General Ignatieff rejoined that Eussia had altogether 
abandoned the idea of a congress in consequence of the difficulties 
raised by England. He urged Count Andrassy to state Austria's 
demand. The Count declined, as he still hoped for a congress, but 
declared that if he had to consider the treaty solely from an Austrian 
point of view, he would demand far greater concessions than if he 
had to consider it in relation to the general interests of Europe. 
Having received this decided rebuff. General Ignatieff returned to 
St. Petersburg, and the Russian organs stated that his object had 
been to ascertain just how Austria felt, and that having accom- 
plished this, the purpose of his mission had been gained. 
• It was afterward stated that the Austrian views were regarded as 
so exorbitant by the Russians that the Chancellory, in order to pre- 
vent an offensive alliance between Austria and England, was about 
to make another attempt to come to terms with England. 

The Servian Government, on the last day of March, ordered the 
immediate remobilization of the whole of its forces. 

The English Government, having decided to call out the reserves, 
Earl Derby offered his resignation as Secretary of State for Foreign 
Affairs on the 28th of March, and was succeeded by the Marquis 
of Salisbury. 

The correspondence between the British and Russian Govern- 
ments concerning the Conference was published on the 30th of 
March. From it, it appeared that Austria was the only Government 
which had expressed an opinion about England's demand for the 
submission of all the articles of the treaty to the Conference. It 
thought the reservation of full liberty of action by the powers a 
sufficient guarantee, and that it was not to the interest of England 
or Austria to raise difficulties on this point. Prince Gortchakoff 
had said to Lord Loftus, in a conversation at St. Petersburg, that if 
the Congress made any modifications in the treaty they would be 
subject to further arrangements between Russia and Tm*key. 



68o 



THE WAR IN THE EAST, 



The Britisb. Government issued a circular to the powers, which 
was published on the 1st day of April, complaining of the terms 
imposed by Russia on Turkey. Its objections to the details of the 
treaty, which were clearly given, were intensified by the reservations 
of Russia relative to their discussion by the Conference. Every 
material stipulation of the treaty, it said, involved a departure from 
the treaty of 1856, and by the declarations of 1871, her Majesty's 
Government could not acquiesce in a withdrawal from the cog- 
nizance of the powers of articles which were modifications of exist- 
ing treaties. The combined effect of the stipulations upon the 
interests of the powers also furnished a reason against the separate 
discussion of any part of them. By the articles relative to Bulgaria, 
a strong Slav State would be erected under the auspices and control 
of Russia, who would thus secure a preponderating influence in the 
Black and ^gean Seas, and a considerable Greek population would 
be merged into a Slav community ahen to it. The stipulations for 
the better government of Thessaly and Epirus, in themselves highly 
commendable, were accompanied by provisions the general effect of 
which would be to increase the power of Russia to the prejudice of 
Greece, and every country having interests in the Eastern Mediter- 
ranean. The territorial severance of Constantinople from its Eu- 
ropean provinces still left would deprive the Porte of any strength 
it might receive from them, and expose their inhabitants to serious 
risk of anarchy. The acquisition of Bessarabia and Batum made 
Russia dominant over the vicinity of the Black Sea, while the 
acquisition of the Armenian strongholds enabled it to arrest trade 
between Europe and Persia. Another combined effect of the treaty 
was " to depress, almost to the point of entire subjection, the 
political independence of the Government of Constantinople." The 
formal jurisdiction of that Government, including the control of the 
Black Sea Straits, the head of the Persian GuK, the shores of the 
Levant, and the immediate neighborhood of the Suez Canal, ex- 
tended over geographical positions which must, under all circum- 
stances, be of the deepest interest to Great Britain. It could not 
be otherwise than a matter of solicitude that the Government to 
which this jurisdiction belonged should be so closely pressed by the 
political outposts of a greatly superior power, that its independent 
action, and even political existence, was almost impossible. These 
results arose, not so much from the language of any single article of 
the treaty as from the operation of the instrument as a whole. 



COMPLICATIONS AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 68 1 



While England would willingly liave entered a congress in which 
the stipulations could be examined as a whole, neither British in- 
terests nor the well-being of the Turkish provinces would be con- 
sulted by the assembling of a congress restricted by Prince Gortch- 
akoff's latest reservations. 

On the same day that the circular appeared, the Queen notified 
Parliament that she was about to call out, for permanent service, 
the reserve force, and the militia reserve, or so much of them as 
should be deemed necessary. The order was issued on the next day, 
commanding the reserves to assemble on or before April 19th. 

While the breach between England and Russia was thus widen- 
ing, the Czar was drawing the Sultan of Turkey into close relations 
with him, and apparently forming an alliance of the two powers. 
On the occasion of the anniversary of the Czar's accession to the throne, 
March 3d, the Sultan sent him a message of congratulation, " with 
the desire of renewing our friendly relations." The Czar replied, 
thanking the Sultan for his congratulations, which he received simul- 
taneously with the news of the signature of the treaty of peace, and 
perceived in the coincidence a presage of good and lasting relations 
between the two. The Grand Duke Nicholas, accompanied by 
twelve Russian generals, paid a visit of ceremonial to the Sultan, in 
the Dolmabaghtche Palace, March 26th, where he was received with 
the utmost courtesy and cordiahty by the Sultan, surrounded by his 
ministers, and Osman Pasha and other Generals. He then went to 
the Beylerbey Palace, and was there called upon by the Sultan. Ou 
the next day he dined with the Sultan, the company including 
several Russian princes and generals, and Yefik, Savfet, ISTamyk, 
Rauf, and Osman Pashas. The Sultan was said to be havhig 
presents and an imperial order prepared for the Grand Duke. 



APPENDIX I. 



THE WILL OF PETEE THE GREAT. 

The so-called will of Peter the Great, although it is now generally regarded as a 
spurious paper, has in the past made a prominent figure in the discussions of European 
politics, particularly with reference to Russia and Turkey. It assumes to mark out a 
policy for the weakening and gradual absorption of the East, and of all the neighboring 
States of the West, and the ultimate conquest of the whole West by Russia. The paper 
which assumed to represent such a will, was so ingeniously contrived by interweaving 
into its text notices of events which had already taken place at the time it was manufac- 
tured, as to seem to unfold a genuine policy, and make the scheme for conquests in the 
future appear real and plausible. Its appearance was calculated to create alarm, and 
it, no doubt, had its influence over the movements and combinations that were made 
and entered into while its genuineness was believed in. The "will" was first brought 
into notice in the year 1812, in a French work, entitled Bu Progress cle la Puissance Pussey 
depuis son Origine Jusqu'au Commencement du XIX. siecle, hy 31. L. (Of the Progress 
of the Russian Power, from its Origin to the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, hj 
M. Lesur), which, according to Sir Robert Wilson, of the English army, was published 
under the direct oversight of the French Government. The abstract of the paper which 
follows, was given in this work, prefaced by the words : "I am assured that there exist 
in the private archives of the Emperors of Russia, secret memoirs, written in the hand 
of Peter I., in which are exposed without evasion the projects which that Prince had 
conceived, which he recommended to the attention of his successors, and which manj' of 
them have in effect followed with a persistence which may be called religious." 

In 1836, M. Frederick Gaillardet published a work called Memoires of the Chevalier 
d'Eon, in which he gave what he professed was an exact copy of the will of Peter the 
Great, foreshadowing substantially the same policj' that was indicated in the abstract 
of Lesur. It was asserted that d'Eon, while in Russia, had enjoyed the unlimited confi- 
dence of the Court, and the privilege of making unrestricted researches, and had used 
them to make the copy of the will of Peter, which he took to France, and gave to the 
Abbe de Bernis, Minister of Foreign Affairs to Louis XIV. The Ifemoires du Chevalier 
d''Eon is a romance, with but little foundation, in fact, for its incidents ; and it is certain 
that the will was not known to the public till Lesur published his abstract in 1812. The 
present received theory of the origin of the document, is that Gaillardet elaborated 
his version from the abstract given by Lesur, that Lesur v.TOte his abstract by dictation 
from Napoleon I., and that Napoleon invented the whole concern. The evidences of the 
ungenuineness of the paper appear in certain phrases which a Russian would never have 
used, and the supposition that Lesur did not write or even edit the abstract he gave, is 
sustained by the fact that he avowed no responsibility or original knowledge of the will, 



THE WILL OF PETER THE GREAT. 



683 



but merely said that he was assured that it existed ; and hy the style in which he gave 
it— which is crude and ill-connected— such a style as one might use in dictation, but 
which a cultivated author, as Lesur was, would never have written. The following is 
the abstract given by Lesur, translated from the original as literally a.< the clearness of 
the sense will permit : 

1. To neglect nothing that will give to the Russian nation European forms and 
usages ; and with this view, to engage the diflerent courts, and especially the scholars 
of Europe, whether by speculations of interest, or by the philanthropic principles of 
philosophy, or by other motives, to assist in this object. 

2. To keep the State continually in order for war, so as to harden the soldier, and 
hold the nation always in breath and ready to march at the first signal. 

3. To stretch by every possible means toward the north, along the Baltic, as well as 
toward the south, along the Black Sea ; and with this object : 

4. To nurse the jealousy of England, Denmark, and Brandenburg against Sweden ; 
by reason of which those powers will shut their eyes to the aggressions we will commit 
against that country, and which we will complete by subjugating it. 

5. To interest the house of Austria in driving the Turk from Europe, and under that 
pretext, to maintain a permanent army and establish docks on the Black Sea, and con- 
stantly advancing, to stretch out toward Constantinople. 

6. To keep up anarchy in Poland ; to influence its diets, and especially the elections 
of its kings ; to take from it on every occasion that shall present itself, and finish by sub- 
jugating it. 

7. To contract a close alliance with England, and cultivate intimate relations with 
it, by means of a good treaty of commerce, to permit it even to exercise a kind of mo- 
nopoly in the interior ; this will insensibly produce a familiarity between the English 
merchants and sailors and those of our nation, who, on their side, will favor all means 
of perfecting and aggrandizing the Russian marine, by the aid of which we must aim as 
soon as possible at the domination in the Baltic and the Black Seas, a capital point, on 
which depends the success and the acceleration of our plans. 

8. The testator recommends to all of his successors to be penetrated with this truth, 
that the commerce of the Indies is the commerce of the world, and that whoever has the 
excluf ive control of it, is the real sovereign of Europe ; consequently no opportunity 
should be lost to excite wars against Persia, to accelerate its decay, to penetrate to the 
Persian Gulf, and then attempt to re-establish the ancient commerce of the Levant 
through Syria. 

9. To engage at every cost, whether by force or by stratagem, in the quarrels of 
Europe, and especially in those of Germany ; and for this object : 

10. To seek and keep up a constant alliance with Austria ; to flatter that power in 
its favorite idea of predominance ; to profit by the least ascendency we may gain over it ; 
to engage it in ruinous wars, so as to enfeeble it by degrees ; even to assist it sometimes, 
and never to desist from secretly making enemies to it throughout Europe, and particu- 
larly in Germany, by exciting against it the jealousy and mistrust of the princes. 

Note. — We shall succeed in this the more easily, said Peter, because this proud 
house has already manifested more than once a disposiiion to domineer over the ancient 
States of Europe, and because on every occasion when it shall undertake it, we shall 
acquire some of the good provinces which border on Hungary ; and we will finish by 
incorporating Hungar^'^ into an empire, as a compensation. 

11. Always to choose among the princesses of Germany wives for the Russian 
princes, and thus multiplj'- our alliances by relations of family and interest, so as to in- 
crease our influence in that Empire. 

12. To make use of religious ascendency over the disunited or schismatic Greeks who 
are found in Hungary, Turkey, and the southern parts of Poland, to attach them to us 
by all artful ways, so as to be called their protectors, and acquire a title to the sacerdotal 
supremacy. Under this pretext, and by means of it, Turkey will be subjugated ; and 



684 



APPENDIX L 



Poland, not being able to sustain itself any longer, either by its own forces or by political 
alliances, will submit itself to the yoke. 

13. Then, every instant will become precious. It will be necessary to prepare in 
secret all the batteries to strike the grand blow, and make them play with an order, a 
skill, and a celerity that shall give Europe no time to come to itself. We must begin 
by proposing separately, and with great circumspection, first to the Court of Versailles, 
then to that of Vienna, to divide with one of them the empire of the world, accompany- 
ing the proposition with the remark, that Russia being already, in fact, sovereign of all 
the East, and having nothing more to gain except the title, this proposition on its part 
can not be suspected by them. Doubtless the proposition wUl not fail to flatter them 
and to kindle a deadly war between them which would soon become general ; for in view 
of the extended alliances and relations of these two rival courts and natural enemies, all 
the other powers in Europe would be compelled, by interest, to take part in the quarrel 
between them. 

14. In the midst of this general fury, Russia would be asked for aid, sometimes by 
one, sometimes by the other of the belligerent powers, and, after having hesitated for 
a long while, so as to give them time to exhaust themselves, it would appear at last to 
decide for the House of Austria ; and while advancing its troops of the line to the Rhine, 
it would cause them to be followed immediately by a swarm of Asiatic hordes ; and as 
the former should advance into Germany, two large fleets should set sail — the one from 
the Sea of Azov and the other from the port of Archangel — charged with bodies of these 
same hordes, under the convoy of the armed fleets of the Black Sea and the Baltic. The 
fleets would appear suddenly in the Mediterranean and on the ocean to pour out all 
these nomadic peoples, ferocious and greedy for booty, and to inundate with them 
Italy, Spain, and France, of which they would pillage one part of the inhabitants, reduce 
another to slavery to people with them the deserts of Siberia, and subject the rest to 
Buch a condition that they would not be able to shake ofE the yoke. These diversions 
would then give complete latitude to the army of the line to act with the greatest pos- 
sible vigor and certainty in conquering and subjugating the rest of Europe. 

The version of Gaillardet, since it professes to be a copy of the original document, 
is more formal and finished in style, and a little, but only a little, more minute in detail 
than that of Lesur. It is accompanied with an introduction, giving a general summary 
of the views of the supposititious testator, which does not appear in Lesur's abstract. 
This is followed by the fourteen articles, the first twelve of which are the same in sub- 
stance, differing only slightly in details and arrangement as those of Lesur, and only 
the last two articles show material variation. The document, as given in the ^lemoires 
du Chevalier cfEoti^ is entitled, " Copy of the plan of European domination, left by Peter 
the Great to his successors on the throne of Russia, and deposited in the archives of the 
palace of Peterhoff", near St. Petersburg." The introduction is as follows: "In the 
name of the Most Holy and Indivisible Trinity, We, Peter, Emperor and Autocrat of all 
Russia, etc., to all of our descendants and successors on the throne of the Russian nation, 
the Great God, from whom we hold our existence, having constantly enlightened us 
with His wisdom and sustained us with His divine support, etc. 

" Here Peter I. avers that, according to his views, which he believes to be those of 
Providence, he regards the Russian people as called in the future to the general domi- 
nation of Europe. He founds this belief on the fact that, according to him, the European 
nations have, for the most part, arrived at an age approaching decadence, to which 
they are rapidly marching; whence it follows that they could be easily and indubitably 
conquered by a young and new people, whenever the latter should have attained all its 
force and growth. The Russian monarch regards this future invasion of the Western 
and Eastern countries by the North as a periodic movement decreed in the designs of 
Providence, which thus regenerated the Roman people through the invasion of the bar- 
barians. He compares those emigrations of Northem men to the overflow of the Nile, 
which at certain times fertilizes with its slime the impoverished fieldb of Egypt. He 



THE WILL OF PETER THE GREAT. 



685 



adds that Eussia, which he found a stream and will leave a river, will become under his 
successors a great sea destined to fertilize impoverished Europe, which its waves v/ill 
overflow in spite of all the dykes which feeble hands can oppose to it, if his descendants 
shall know how to direct its course. It is for this reason that he leaves to them the fol- 
lowing instructions, and recommends them to their constant attention and observa- 
tion, as Moses recommended the tables of the law to the Jewish people." Here follow 
the articles, of which the thirteenth and fourteenth are : 

" 13. Sweden dismembered, Persia vanquished, Poland subjugated, Turkey con- 
quered, our armies united, the Black Sea and the Baltic guarded by our fleets, we must 
propose separately and very secretly, first to the Court of Versailles, then to that of 
Vienna, to share with them the empire of the world. If one of them accepts, which 
can not fail to be the case, while flattering their ambition and their self-love, to make 
use of one to crush the other; then to crush in its turn the one which shall remain, by 
engaging with it in a contest which can not be doubtful, since Eussia will already possess 
all the East and a large part of Europe." 

" 14. If, which is not probable, both should refuse the offer of Eussia, it will be 
necessary to stimulate quarrels between them and make them exhaust each other. 
Then, taking advantage of a decisive moment, Eussia shall pour her troops, assembled 
in advance, upon Germany, at the same time that two fleets shall issue — the one from 
the Sea of Azov, the other from the port of Archangel— charged with Asiatic hordes, 
under convoy of the armed fleets of the Black and Baltic Seas. Advancing by the Med- 
iterranean and the ocean, they shall inundate France on the one side, while Germany- 
is overwhelmed on the other, and these two countries being conquered, the rest of 
Europe will pass easily and without our striking another blow under the yoke. Thus 
Europe may, and should, be subjected." 



APPENDIX II. 



THE TEEATT OF SAN STEFAlfO. 

1. In order to put an end to the perpetual conflicts between Turkey and Montenegro, 
the frontier di\ading both countries will be rectified in the following way : — From the 
Jobrostcha Mountain the frontier will follow the line indicated at the Constantinople 
Conference to Korito, through Bilek, thence will go to Gatchko, Metochia, Gatchko be- 
longing to Montenegro, toward the confluence of the Piva and Tara, rejoining the Drina 
northward to its confluence with the Lim. The Oriental frontier will follow the last- 
named river to Drijepolie and through Roskai and Sukhaplanina, lea\lng to Montene- 
gro, Bihor, Roshai, taking in Rugowo, Slava, and Gusigue along the mountain ridge, 
through Shlieb, Saklen, along the north frontier by the mountain tops of Koprivnik, Ba- 
bavitch, Borvih, to the highest summit of Prokled ; then by the summit of the Biskoshik 
Scait to Lake Tchicenitlod, dividing it from Tchicenikastrati, it will cross the Lake of 
Scutari and join the Boyana, whose course it will follow to the sea, Nicsic, Gatchko, Spuz, 
Podgoritza, Zabliak, and Antivari remain to Montenegro. A European commission, in 
which the Porte and Montenegro will be represented, wUl have to fix the definitive limits 
of the principality modifying the general outline when found necessary and equitable for 
the respective interests and tranquillity of both countries, the necessary equivalents being 
agreed to. The navigation of the Boyana, which always provoked contests between 
the Porte and Montenegro, will be the object of special regulation by the same European 
commission. 

2. The Sublime Porte definitely recognizes the independence of Montenegro. An 
agreement between the Governments of Russia and Turkey and Montenegro Avill ulti- 
mately determine the character and form of the relations between the Porte and Mon- 
tenegro re:?pecting the agents of Montenegro in Constantinople and other localities of the 
Ottoman Empire where necessary. The Montenegrins will submit to the Ottoman laws 
and authorities whenever traveling in Turkey, according to international law and uses. 
A convention sball be concluded between the Porte and Montenegro regulating the rela- 
tion of the inhabitants on the confines of both countries, and the military works on the 
confines at points where an understanding would be impossible, will be decided by Rus- 
sian and Austrian arbitration. Should disputes or conflicts arise except respecting terri- 
torial claims, the Porte and Montenegro will leave the settlement to the common 
arbitration of Russia and Austria. The Montenegrin troops will evacuate the territory 
not included in the above-mentioned delimitation within ten days after the peace prelimi- 
naries have been signed. 

3. Servia is recognized as independent. The frontier marked on the annexed map 
will follow the course of the Drina, leaving Little Zvornik and Zakar to Servia, along 
the ancient boundary to Decevas, near Storiac, thcuce along to the river Raska, and 
along it to Novi Bazar ; thence across the villages Mekigne, Trooviste, to the source of 
the river, the line will go by Bazar Planita, in the Ibar valley, and follow the rivulet 
which flows into the river at Ribanic, whence it will follow the rivers Ibar, Pilnitza, and 
Lab, and the rivulet Balutza, to its source on the Gra^atchtitza Planix, thence by the 

(686) 



THE TREATY OF SAN STEFANO. 



68; 



summits separating the rivers Kriva and Veternitza it will rejoin by the shortest route 
the last-named river at Mivratzkas, will ascend it, cross the Miovtza Planix and descend 
toward the Morava, near the village of Calimanci, thence descend the Morava to the river 
Ylcssina, near the village of Staikovotzi, remounting the river Linuerazda and the rivulet 
Koukavitza, crossing the Sukhaplanina, following the rivulet Vryls to Nihava, and so 
on to the village of Kruplatz, whence the line will join hy the shortest route the ancient 
Servian frontier south-east of Karasulhare and follow it to the Danube, Ada Kaleh will be 
evacuated and razed. A Turkish and Servian commission, assisted by a Russiian com- 
missary, Avill establish on the spot the definitive line of the frontier in the course of three 
months, and definitively regulate the questions of the Drina Islands. When the com- 
mission discusses the question of the Servian and Bulgarian frontiers, a Bulgarian dele- 
gate will be admitted. 

4. Mussulmans possessing property in the territories annexed to Servia and wishing 
to settle out of the principality will be allowed to hold such property according to the 
existing tenure. A Turco-Servian commission, assisted by a Russian commissary, will 
have to decide the question of sovereignty. In all matters respecting immoyable prop- 
erty involving Mussulman interests the same commission will have to regulate, within 
three years, the mode of alienation of goods belonging to estates or vakufs, and ques- 
tions of private interests, until the conclusion of a direct treaty between Turkey and 
Servia determining the character and form of their common relations. Servian subjects 
traveling or living in Turkey will be bound by international law. The Servian troops 
will have to evacuate within fifteen days from the signature of the peace preliminaries 
the territory above mentioned. 

5. The Sublime Porte recognizes the Independence of Rumania, which Avill present 
its claim to an indemnity to be discussed between both parties. Until the conclusion of 
a treaty between Rumania and Turkey, Rumanian subjects will enjoy in Turkey all the 
rights guaranteed to the subjects of the other European Powers. 

6. Bulgaria is constituted as a tributary Ottoman principality, with a Christian Gov- 
ernment and a national militia. The definitive boundaries of the principality will be 
determined by a special Russo-Turkish commission. Before the evacuation of Rumelia 
by the Russian Imperial army it will take notice of all modifications introduced on the 
spot in the general draft ; the nationality of the majority of the inhabitants ; the topo- 
graphical necessities and practical interests of the local populations. The territorial ex- 
tension of Bulgaria is fixed in general sketches on a map, which will serve as the basis 
for the definitive delimitation. From the new Servian frontier the line will follow the 
occidental boundary of Vranya to the Kara Dagh ridge. Turning westward it will follow 
the occidental boundaries of the Cazas Koumanovo, Mochani, and Kaldanelk to Mount 
Karab, thence from the river Yelestchitza to its junction with the Blanek Alix, south- 
ward by the Drina and occidental limits of the Caza Ochrida toward Mount Linas, and 
along the occidental limits of the Cazas Gortcha and Starovo to Grammos, and thence by 
the Kastoria Lake it will rejoin the river Moglenitza, follow it, pass southward to Tan- 
nitza, continue by Wardars Mouth and Galoko toward Porga and Sarakoi, thence across 
the middle lake to Tchikguel Shoumas and Karasson, and by the sea-coast to Buruguel. 
North-westward toward Tchaltepe it will ascend by the Rhodope ridge to Oushovo, as- 
cend the Kara-Balkans, Eshekkouladji, Tchepelion, Karakolas, and Tchiklar to the 
river Adla. Thence the frontier will go in the direction of the town of Tchirmen, and, 
leaving Adrianople southward, will go through the villages of Suguthod, Karahamze, 
Arnaoutkoi, Akardji, Eadnijie, to the river Tekederessi, following the Tekederesai and 
Tchoilonderessi rivers to Louleh Burgas, and by the river to the village of Serguen will 
follow through the mountains forward Hakim Tabiassi to the Black Sea. It will leave 
the sea-coast near Mangolia, pass along by Tultcha, down to the Danube above Rassova. 

7. The Prince of Bulgaria will be freely elected by the population and confirmed by 
the Porte with the assent of the European Powers. No member of the reigning dynasties 
of the Great Powers can be elected Prince of Bulgaria. In case of a racancy the clec- 



683 



APPENDIX II. 



tion of a new prince win take place under the same conditions and Tvitli the same forms. 
An assembly of Bulgarian notables will meet in Philippopolis or Timo\a and draw up 
before the election of the Prince, under the supervision of a Russian commissary in 
presence of a Turkish commissary, the organization of the future administration. In 
localities where there are Bulgarians, Turks, Wallachians, Greeks, and others, account 
will be taken of the rights and interests of each population. The introduction of new 
regulations and the supervision of their execution will be intrusted for two years to an 
Imperial Russian commissary. At the end of the lirst year after the introduction of the 
new regulations, and if an understanding between the cabinets be obtained, delegates, 
if found necessary, will be associated with the Imperial Russian commissary. 

8. The Ottoman army shall no longer remain in Bulgaria. All the old fortresses 
shall be razed at the expense of the local Government. The Sublime Porte shall have 
the right to dispose as it pleases of the war material and other articles belonging to the 
Ottoman Government which may remain in the Danubian fortresses already evacuated 
by virtue of the armistice of the 31st of January, as well as of any which may be in the 
fortified towns of Shumla and Yama, until the complete formation of an indigenous 
militia, sufficient to preserve order, security, and tranquillity, the number of which shall 
be fixed subsequently by agreement between the Ottoman Government and the Russian 
Imperial Cabinet. The Russian troops will occupy the country, and lend armed inter- 
vention to the commissary in case of need. This occui)ation will also be limited to an 
approximate period of two years. The Russian eflfective army of occupation, consisting 
of six divisions of infantry and two of cavalry, which will remain in Bulgaria after the 
evacuation of Turkey by the Imperial army, will not exceed fifty thousand men, and 
shall be maintained at the expense of the country occupied. The Russian troops in 
Bulgaria wiU preserve communications with Russia, not only via Rumania, but also 
through ports on the Black Sea, Varna, and Burgas, where the necessary dejDots may 
be organized for the duration of the occupation. 

9. The amount of the annual tribute which Bulgaria shall pay to the Suzerain Court, 
through the agency of a bank which shall subsequently be designated by the Sublime 
Porte, will be determined by an agreement between the Russian Government and the 
Ottoman and other cabinets. At the end of the first year a new organization of the 
tribute will be established, based upon the mean revenue of the whole of the territory 
forming part of the principality. Bulgaria will be substituted for the Ottoman Govern- 
ment in its charges and obligations toward the Rustchuk and Varna Railway Company, 
after an understanding between the Sublime Porte, the Government of the principality, 
and the administration of this company. A regulation relative to the other railways 
passing through the principality is also reserved for an agreement between the Sublime 
Porte, the Government of Bulgaria, and the administration of the companies interested. 

10. The Sublime Porte shall have the right to make use of the Bulgarian route 
for the transport by roads to be determined, of its troops, ammunition, and commissariat 
in the provinces situated beyond the principality and vice versa. In order to avoid diffi- 
culties and misunderstanding in the exercise of this right, while guaranteeing the mili- 
tary necessities of the Sublime Porte a special regulation will establish the conditions 
within the space of three months after the ratification of the present document. By an 
understandiog between the Sublime Porte and the Bulgarian Administration, it is well 
understood that this right will extend only to the Ottoman regular troops, and that the 
irregulars — Bashi-Bazouks and Circassians— will be absolutely excluded from it. The 
Porte reserves also the right to send through the principalities its mails, and there to 
keep up a fixed line of communication. The two points will be likewise regulated in 
the manner and at the time above indicated. 

11. The Mussulman land-owners or others who may fix their personal residence out- 
side the principality will be able to preserve their landed property by causing it to be 
administered by others. Turco-Bulgarian commissaries will sit in the principal centers 
of population, under the superintendence of Russian commissioners, to administer as the 



THE TREATY OF SAN S TEE A NO. 



689 



supreme pcver, for the period of two j'ears, in all questions relative to the ve-rifyinij of 
claims to landed property in which the interests of Mussulmans or others shall be 
involved. Analogous commissions will be intrusted to regulate during tAVO years all 
affairs relative to the mode of alienation and management, or for the use on account of 
the Sublime Porte of the lands of the State and of the Vakufs. At the expiration of 
two years all lands which tshall not have been claimed will be sold by auction, and the 
product will be devoted to the support of the widows and orphans — both of Mussulmans 
and Christians — the sufferers by the late events. Inhabitants of the Bulgarian principal- 
ity who may travel or remain in other parts of the Ottoman Empire will be subject to the 
Ottoman laws and authorities. 

12. All the fortresses of the Danube shall be razed. There shall henceforth be no 
more fortified towns upon the banks of this river, nor ships of war in the waters of the 
principalities of Eumania, Servia, and Bulgaria, save guard-boats and light vessels 
intended for the river police and coast-guard services. The rights, obligations, and pre- 
rogative? of the International Commission of the Lower Danube are maintained intact. 

13. The Sublime Porte undertakes the re-establishment of the navigation of the 
passage of Sulina, and the compensation of the private individuals whose property may 
have suffered on account of the war, and from the interruption of navigation of the 
Danube, assigning for the purposes of this double expense the sum of 500,000 francs out 
of the moneys due to them by the Danubian Commission. 

14. The European proposals communicated to the Ottoman Plenipotentiaries in the 
first sitting of the Conference at Constantinople, with the modifications which shall be 
determined upon hj common agreement between the Porte and the Governments of 
Russia, Austria, and Hungary, shall be immediately introduced into Bosnia and Herze- 
govina. The arrears of payment will not be exacted, and the current revenues of these 
provinces up to the 1st of March, 1880, shall be exclusively employed to indemnify the 
families of refugees and sufferers by recent events, without distinction of race or religion, 
according to the local needs. The sum which will annually revert afterward to the cen- 
tral government will be subsequently fixed by a special understanding between Turkey, 
Eussia, Austria, and Hungary. 

15. The Sublime Porte undertakes scrupulously to apply in the island of Crete the 
regulation put in force in 1868, while paying regard to the wishes expressed by the indig- 
enous population. An analogous ordinance adapted to the needs of the localities will 
be also introduced into Epirus, Thessaly, and other portions of Turkey in Europe, for 
which there will be a special organization not within the purview of the present docu- 
ment. Special commissions, in which the indigenous element shall largely participate, 
shall be commissioned in each province to elaborate the details of the new ordinance. 
The result of these labors shall be submitted to the examination of the Sublime Porte, 
which will consult the Russian Government before putting them in execution. 

16. As the evacuation by the Russian troops of the territories in Armenia, which are 
to be restored to Turkey, might give rise to conflicts and prejudicial complications in 
the relations of the two countries, the Porte undertakes to effect without further delay 
the ameliorations and reforms called for by local requirements in the provinces inhabited 
by Armenians, and to guarantee their seciiritj'' against Kurds and Circassians. 

17. A full amnesty shall be extended to Ottoman subjects compromised in recent 
events, and all persons now incarcerated by reason of these or sent into exile shall be 
Immediately restored to liberty. 

18 and 19. The Sublime Porte shall take into serious consideration the opinion pro- 
nounced by the Commissioners of the mediating Powers with regard to the possession 
of the town of Khotoor, and undertakes to cause the execution of the work of definitive 
demarkation of the Turco-Persian frontier. The indemnities for the war and the losses 
entailed upon Russia, which the Emperor of Russia claims and which the Sublime Porte 
has undertaken to reimburse, consist of : A. Nine hundred millions of roubles fcir the 
expenses of the war. B. Four hundred millions of roubles for damage caused to the 



690 



APPENDIX II, 



southern sea-coast of tlie country, to its commerce, exports, industry, and railways. 

C. A hundred millions of roubles for damage caused to the Caucasus by invasion. 

D. Ten millions of roubles for damage (with interest) caused to Kussian subjects and 
institutions in Turkey ; total, 1,410,000,000 of roubles. Talking into consideration the 
financial embarrassments of Turkey, and in accordance with the desire of the Sultan, the 
Emperor of Russia consents to exchange the payment of the greater portion of the 
sums enumerated in the preceding paragraph for the following territorial concessions : 
A. The sanjak of Tultcha — that is, the districts of Kilia, Sulina MaUuradic, Isaktcha, 
Tultcha, Matchin, Baba Dagh, Hirsova, Kustendje, and Medjidie, as well as the islands 
of the Danube Delta and the Isle of Serpents. Russia, not desiring to annex this terri- 
tory or the islands of the Danube Delta, reserv^es the power to exchange it for the por- 
tion of Bessarabia alienated by the treaty of 1856, and bounded on the south by the arm 
of the Kilia and the mouth of the Stary Stamboul. The question of the partition of the 
waters and fisheries shall be regulated by a Russo-Rumanian commission within the space 
of a year after the ratification of the treaty of peace. B. Ardahan, Kars, Batum, Bay- 
azid, and the territory as far as the Soghanli Dagh. Roughly speaking, the frontier, 
starting from the Black Sea, will follow the ridges of mountains which separate the 
affluents of the river Hopa from those of the Tchonisk and the chain of mountains by the 
town of Artvin to the river Tchoruk, near the villages of Ailat and Bechagesthst ; then 
the frontier will run along the summits of Mounts Derenik, Ghexi, Hortsheyar, and 
Bedigindagh, by the ridge separating the affluents of the rivers Tortum Tchai, and 
Tchoruk, and over the heights near Yali Vihim, coming out at the village of Vilim Kilissa 
on the river Tortum Tchai ; thence it will folljw the Sirri Dagh chain to the pass of the 
same name, passing south of the village of Norman. It wiU then turn south-east and go 
to Zewin, whence, passing west of the road leading from Zewin to the village of Ardost 
and Khorassan, it will proceed south over the Soghanli chain as far as the village of 
Gilitchman ; then by the ridge of Sharian Dagh it will reach a point ten versts south of 
Hamaur, in the defile of Murad Tchai ; it will then follow the ridge of the Ala Dagh 
and the summits of the Hori and Tan Dur, and passing south of the valley of BayaziJ, 
will rejoin the old Turco-Persian frontier south of Lake Gazil Gol. The definitive limits 
of the territory annexed to Russia, indicated upon the map annexed, shall be fixed by a 
commission composed of Russian and Ottoman delegates. This commission will take 
into account, in its labors connected with the topography of the locality, considerations 
for good administration, and proper conditions for assuring the tranquillity of the coun- 
try. C The territories mentioned in paragraphs A and B are ceded to Russia as an 
equivalent for the sum of 1,100,000,000 of roubles. As for the rest of the indemnity, with 
the exception of 10,000,000 of roubles due to Russian interests and institutions in Turkey, 
or 300,000,000 roubles, the mode of payment of this sum and the guarantee to be given 
for it are regulated by agreement between the Imperial Government of Russia and that of 
his Majesty the Sultan. D. Ten millions of roubles, claimed as an indemnity for Rus- 
sian subjects and institutions in Turkey, shall be paid by degrees, as the claims of the 
persons interested shall have been examined by the Russian Embassy at Constantinople 
and transmitted to the Sublime Porte. 

20. The Sublime Porte shall take efficacious measures for the amicable settlement 
of all the lawsuits of Russian subjects pending for several years, compensate the latter 
if there be occasion, and cause the judgments delivered to be executed without delay. 

21. Those of the inhabitants of the localities ceded to Russia who may desire to 
establish their residence outside those territories will be at liberty to depart, selling 
their landed property. Three years' delay, dating from the ratification of the present 
document, are granted to them for this purpose. Beyond that period those inhabitants 
who shall not have left the country or sold their lands will be Russian subjects. Landed 
property belonging to the State, or pious establishments situated outside the aforesaid local- 
ities, are to be sold -within the same period of three years, by means which shall be deter- 
mined b} a Russo-Turkish special commission. The same commission shall be intrusted 



THE TREATY OF SAN S TEE A NO. 



691 



to determine the mode of the withdrawal by the Ottoman Government of the war ma- 
terial, ammunition, provisions, and other articles belonging? to the State, which may be 
in the towns, cities, and localities ceded to Russia and not occupied at present by the 
Russian troops. 

22. Russian clergymen, pilgrims, and monks traveling or staying in European and 
Asiatic Turkey shall enjoy the same rights, advantages, and privileges as foreign clergy- 
men belonging to other nationalities. The right of official protection of the Imperial 
Embassy and Russian Consuls in Turkey is recognized both with regard to the persons 
aforementioned and to their possessions. Religious and philanthropic establishments 
and others, at holy places and elsewhere, of the monks of Mount Athos, of Russian 
origin, shall be maintained in their former possessions and privileges, and shall continue 
to enjoy, in the three convents which belong to tliem, and in their dependencies, the 
same rights and prerogatives as those assured to the other religious establishments and 
the Mount Athos convents. 

23. All treaties, conventions, and undertakings previously concluded between the 
two high contracting parties relative to the commerce, jurisdiction, and position of 
Russian subjects in Turkey, which have been suppressed by the war, shall be put in 
force again, excepting those clauses which will be affected by the present document. 
The two Governments will be reinstated as regards their mutual relations, for all their 
undertakings — commercial and otherwise — in the same situation in which they were 
placed before the declaration of war. 

24. The Bosporus and Dardanelles will remain open in time of war as in time of 
peace, to the merchant vessels of neutral States arriving from Russian ports or proceed- 
ing to those ports. The Sublime Porte undertakes in consequence not to establish 
henceforth in the ports of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov a fictitious blockade, which 
shall depart from the spirit of the Declaration of Paris of 1856. 

25. The complete evacuation by the Russian army of European Turkey, with the 
exception of Bulgaria, shall take place within a period of three months from the defin- 
itive conclusion of peace between his Majesty the Emperor of Russia and his Majesty 
the Sultan, In order to save time, and to avoid the prolonged maintenance of Russian 
troops in Turkey and Rumania, a portion of the Imperial army may proceed to the ports 
of the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora for embarkation in vessels belonging to the 
Russian Government, or freighted for the occasion. The evacuation of Asiatic Turkey 
shall be efi'ected within the space of six months, dating from the definitive conclusion of 
peace, and the Russian troops shall be at liberty to embark at Trebizond, to return by 
the Caucasus or by the Crimea. The operations for the evacuation shall commence 
immediately after the exchange of the ratifications. 

26. A.S long as the Russian troops remain in the localities which — according to the 
present document — will be restored to the Sublime Porte, the administration and order 
of things shall remain in the same state as since the occupation. The Sublime Porte 
shall take no part in it during this time, and until the entire departure no Ottoman 
troops shall enter the localities restored to the Sublime Porte. The latter shall not 
commence to exercise its authority there until, as each town and province shall have 
been evacuated by the Russian troops, the commander of those troops shall have given 
information to the officer appointed for this purpose by the Sublime Porte. 

27. The Sublime Porte undertakes not to treat rigorously in any way, or allow to be 
so treated, Ottoman subjects who have been compromised by their relations with the 
Russian army during the war. In case any persons may wish to depart with their fam- 
ilies by following the Russian troops, the Ottoman authorities shall not oppose their 
departure. 

28. Immediately after the ratification of the preliminaries of peace the prisoners of 
war shall be reciprocally restored through the agency of special commissioners named 
on each side, who shall proceed for that purpose to Odessa and Sebastopol. The Otto- 
man Government shall pay all the expenses of the support of the restored prisoners in 



38 



602 APPENDIX II. <^ / Q 

eighteen equal installments, within the period of six years, accordiug to the accounts 
which shall be substantiated by the above-mentioned commissioners. The exchange of 
prisoners between the Ottoman Government and the Governments of Rumania, Servia, 
and Montenegro shall take place upon the same bases ; deducting, however, from the 
account to be drawn up, the number of prisoners restored by the Ottoman Government 
from the number of prisoners which they will receive in return. 

29. The present document will be ratified by their Majesties, the Emperor of Russia 
and the Emperor of the Ottomans, and ratifications wiU be exchanged in fifteen days, or 
sooner, if possible, at St. Petersburg, or both place and time may be agreed upon, at 
which the stipulations of the present document may be invested with the solemn forms 
used in treaties of peace. It remains well understood, however, that the high contract- 
ing parties consider themselves formally bound by the present document from the 
moment of its ratification, in faith of which the respective plenipotentiaries have put 
their hand and seal to the present document. 

Given at San Stefano, February 19 (March 3), 1878. 

COUNT IGNATIEFF. 
SAVFET. 
NELIDOFF. 
SADOOLAH. 



i 



